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t ft i i e y , h% -He-I4a ^ ^ y 

LIFE AND IMPRISONMENT 



OF 



JEFFERSON DAVIS, 



TOGETHER WITH TUB 



LIFE AND MILITAEY CAEEER 



OP 



STONEWALL JACKSON, 

FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES. 

WITH PORTRAITS OF JEFF. DAVIS, STONEWALL 
JACKSON AND GEN. R. E. LEE. 



NEW YORK: 

M. DOOLADY, PUBLISHER, 

448 BROOME STREET. 

18G6. 



t- 



/p2-' 



h^ 



Enterer], acoonllng to Act of -Congress, in the year 1866, hy 

M. DOOLADY, 

lu the Clerk's Office of the United States District Court for the Soutlierii District of 
New York. 



. LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAYIS, 



CHAPTER I. 

Parentage and birth— His father a soldier in the American war of Independ- 
ence — Removes to Kentucky, where Jefferson Davis is born — His father 
again removes to Mississippi — Jefferson graduates at West Point — Enters 
the array— Black Hawk war — Marries and becomes a planter — Enters 
Congress— Distinguished in the Mexican War— Elected to the United 
States Senate. 

Samuel Dayis, the father of Jefferson Davis, was a soldier in 
the American War of Independence, serving as a cavah-j officer 
in the local forces of the State of Georgia. From Georgia he 
removed to Christian County, (now Todd Co.,) Kentucky, where 
the Confederate leader was born, June 3, 1808. Soon after the 
birth of his son, Samuel Davis removed to the State of Mississippi, 
then only a territory of the United States, where he settled near 
Woodville, in Wilkinson County. 

By a singular coincidence, the same State in which Jefferson 
Davis was born (Kentucky), a little more than half a year after- 
wards, witnessed the nativity of Abraham Lincoln. It would 
seeui as if even now was foreshadowed the divergence which 
marked the future careers of these men. Only a very few years of 
the childhood of each was passed in this Border State, when their 



4 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

parents, again seized with the prevalent migratory passion of the 
country, removed to regions not more diametrically opposed in 
geographical tlian in social position. Thomas Lincoln sought the 
wilds of free Indiana ; Samuel Davis elected to cast his destiny 
and that of his posterity in the slave-holding territory of Mississippi. 
Those anthropologists who hold man to be a natural cosmopolite, 
may be right in the physical aspect of the question, but socially 
and religiously, he is, alas, a denizen, imbibing and assimilating 
the ideas of his locality as he does its fruits I Let the partizan, 
of whatever creed, who reads these lines, here pause and contra- 
dict history by sending Thomas Lincoln to Mississippi and Samuel 
Davis to Indiana I 

After receiving a good academic education, Jefferson was 
sent to Transylvania College, Kentucky, where he remained until 
1824, when he was appointed by President Monroe a cadet in 
the celebrated military school of the United States at West 
Point. He graduated with honor in 1828, at twenty years of 
age. He was soon after appointed brevet second lieutenant in 
the United States army, and at his own request, at once assigned 
to active service in a regiment commanded by Colonel Zachary 
Taylor. He continued in the United States army for seven years, 
and served as an infantry and staff officer in the Black Hawk war 
of 1831-2 with distinction. Mr. Davis's gallantry and skill were- 
rewarded with a commission as first lieutenant of dragoons, in 
which capacity he was employed in 1834 in various expeditions 
against the Comanches, Pawnees, and other hostile Indian tribes. 

After seven years of active service, Lieutenant Davis, in 1835, 
resigned his commission in the army. Three years before his 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 5 

resignation he had married (clandestinely) a daughter of General 
Zachary Taylor, afterwards President of the United States. He 
now retired to private life, and became a cotton planter in the 
State of Mississippi. For several years he only varied the monot- 
ony of his retirement with such legal and political studies as fitted 
him for the very prominent political positions he afterwards occu- 
pied. It was not until 1843 that he began to take an active 
part in public affairs. He was from the first identified with the 
Democratic party, and, in 1844, was chosen one of the presidential 
electors of Mississippi, and in that capacity he cast the vote of his 
constituents for Mr. Polk, who was duly elected President. 

In November, 1845, Mr. Davis was elected a member of the 
House of Representatives, where he soon proved himself an active, 
energetic, and able supporter of the measures of his party. He 
participated actively in the discussions of the session on the tariff, 
the Oregon question, and more particularly upon the questions 
connected with the prosecution of the Mexican war, and upon the 
constitutional principles involved in the organization of State 
militia when called into the service of the United States. 

Still imbued with the old attachment of his youth for military 
life, he could not resist an active participation in the Mexican war ; 
and being informed while in Congress, that the first regiment of 
Mississippi volunteers had elected hun its colonel, he promptly 
resigned his seat and hastened to place himself at its head. Over- 
taking his command at New Orleans on its way to the seat of 
war, he led it to reinforce the army of General Taylor on the Rio 
Grande. 

Colonel Davis took an active part in the storming of Monterey, 



6 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

September, 1846, and was one of the commissioners for arranging 
the terms of the capitulation of that city. In the beginning of 
the next year, February 23, 1847, was fouglit the fiercely con- 
tested battle of Buena Yista. In this engagement, he acquitted 
himself with great distinction. His regiment, attacked by an 
immensely superior force, for a long time maintained their ground 
wholly unsupported, while Colonel Davis himself, although severe- 
ly wounded, remained in the saddle until the close of the 
action. 

Of his conduct in that action it has been said that "Jefferson 
Davis at the head of the ' Mississippi rifles ' had ventured to do 
that of which there is perhaps but one other example in the mili- 
tary history of modern times. During the invasion of the Crimea, 
at the battle of Inkerman, in one of those desperate charges, there 
was a British officer who ventured to receive the charge of the 
enemy without the precaution of having his men formed in a hollow 
square. They were drawn up in two lines, meeting at a point 
like an open fan, and received the charge of the Russians at the 
muzzles of their guns and repelled it. Sir Colin Campbell for 
this feat of arms, among others, was selected as the man to 
retrieve the fallen fortunes of England in India, He did, how- 
ever, only what Jefferson Davis had previously done in Mexico, 
who in that trying hour, when with one last desperate effort to 
break the lines of the American army, the cavalry of Mexico was 
concentrated in one charge against the American line — then, I 
say, Jefferson Davis commanded his men to form in two lines ex- 
tended as I have shown, and receive that charge of the Mexican 
horse with a plunging fire from the right and left from the Missis- 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 1 

sippi rifles, which repelled, and repelled for the last time, tho 
charge of the hosts of Mexico."* 

For his extraordinary gallantry in this engagement he was de- 
servedly complimented by the commander-in-chief in his despatch 
of the 6 th of March following. 

The term of the mere handful that remained of the first Missis- 
sippi volunteers expired in July, 1847, and Mr. Davis was ordered 
home. He soon after received a high testimonial of the apprecia- 
tion of his services at Washington, in the offer by President Polk 
of a commission as brigadier-general of volunteers. But Mr. 
Davis belonged even at that period of his political career to the 
extreme wing of the State-rights Democracy. At the session of 
Congress which immediately preceded the commencement of hos- 
tihties, he had taken a decided stand against the power of the 
general government to organiz'3 and officer the militia of the 
States even when engaged in the service of the general govern- 
ment. He could not therefore consistently accept an ofiice in tha 
State troops at the hands of the Federal executive, and refused 
the offer. This incident, though trivial enough in itself, is worth 
noticing, as at once illustrating the personal character and politi- 
cal principles of the late Confederate chief. The question had 
been decided against him by the vote of Congress, including a * 
large portion of his own party, and the right of appointment was 
sanctioned, and on this occasion exercised by the now chief of 
that party. Yet such was the firmness or obstinacy of Mr. Davis, 
and such his estimate of the dignity and prerogatives of the sepa- 
rate State governments, that he rejected on this occasion the de« 

^Lecture delivered February 11, 1858, Boston, by Hon. Caleb Cii»hiiigi 



8 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

cisions of both. In August, 184T, he was appointed by the gov- 
ernor of Mississippi to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate, 
and at the ensuing session of the State legislature, January 11, 
1848, was unanimously elected to the same office for the residue 
of the term, which expired March 4th, 1851. 



LIFE OF JEFFEKSON DAVIS. 



CHAPTER II. 

Repudiation. 

While Mr. Davis, in 1849^ was filling the term of his special 
appointment as United States Senator from Mississippi, an old 
controversy was revived in regard to what is known as the Mis- 
sissippi Repudiation. It was begun by the publication in the 
" Washington Union" of a letter from Mr. Davis, in which he 
endeavored to prove that the accusations against his State im- 
puting a disregard of its honest obligations in the premises, were 
unfounded. To this letter a reply appeared in the money article 
of the London " Times," of 13th of July, 1849, followed soon 
after by a rejoinder from Mr. Davis. In July, 1863, the promi- 
nent position filled by the President of the Southern Confede- 
racy again occasioned the revival of the subject, which was 
treated at great length in a letter of the Hon. Robert J. 
Walker, since published in book form. The gist of the whole 
question may be stated thus : 

In 1838, the Legislature of Mississippi pledged the faith of 
the State to the payment of certain bonds issued by the Union 
Bank of Mississippi, at the same time subscribing on behalf of 
the State for the greater part of the stock issued. The bank 
failed about two years afterwards, and the Legislature, in pur- 
Buance of the recommendation of the Governor, declined the 

1* 



10 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

payment of the bonds, mainly on the ground that the preceding 
Legislature, in contracting the obligation, exceeded its authority, 
and that the obligation was, therefore, void. 
The Constitution of Mississippi provides that — 

" No law shall be passed to raise a loan of money upon the 
credit of the State for the payment or redemption of any loan 
or debt, unless such law be proposed in the Senate or House of 
Kepresentatives, and be agreed to by a majority of the members 
of each house . . . and be referred to the succeeding Legisla- 
ture . . . and unless a majority of eacii branch of (such suc- 
ceeding) Legislature . . . shall agree to and pass such law." 

The law which authorized the issuance of the bonds in ques- 
tion, was enacted in strict compliance with the requirements of 
tlie Constitution, but after its passage by the second Legislature, 
that Legislature passed a second act which materially modified 
the first by making the State itself the chief stockholder in the 
bank, and thus converting the State into the principal debtor 
instead of a mere surety as the first act contemplated. This 
second, or supplementary act was not, in accordance with the re- 
quirements of the Constitution, submitted to any succeeding 
Legislature, and hence was void ; nor was its unconstitutionality 
at all cured by the declaration of that Legislature that it was 
constitutional. 

It was asserted on the other side that as Mississippi actually 
received the money, this constituted a ratification of the agency 
of the Legislature. But to this Mr. Davis replies that the 



X 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 11 

fetate did not receive the money, it having been all paid over to 
the Union Bank and disposed of by that corporation ; and to 
the objection that tlie State was the largest stockholder in tliat 
bank, his rejoinder was, that the law making the State a stock- 
holder was the very portion of the enactment which lacked a 
second legislative sanction, and was therefore void. That a 
great part of the money passed by way of loan into the hands 
of citizens of the State was true, and upon those individuals 
rested a clear obligation to the amount received. In reply to 
the objection that the constitutionality of the legislative act had 
been determined in favor of the creditors by the judicial tribunals 
created by the Constitution to decide such questions, it was an- 
swered tliat this was true, but tha-t the Constitution never in- 
tended that the judiciary should dictate to the Legislature the 
pa.-sage of certain laws, it being designed to create in that de- 
partment merely a check analogous to the executive veto upon 
unauthorized acts of power by the law-making body. That the 
Legislature, therefore, might well differ with the courts upon 
the constitutionality of the late act contracting the debt in ques- 
.tion, and could certainly refuse to impose the taxation necessary 
for its payment. 

Mr. Davis, during his present imprisonment at Fortress Monroe, 
in speaking to his physician, Dr. Craven, on this subject, declared 
that the stories in circulation that he had effected the repudiation 
of the Mississippi bonds were utterly false : 

** There is no truth in the report," he said. " The event re- 
ferred to occurred before I had any connection with politics-^_ 



12 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

my first entrance into wliich was in 1843 ; nor was I at any time 
a disciple of the doctrine of repudiation. Nor did Mississippi 
ever refuse to acknowledge as a debt more than one class of 
jjouds— those of the Union State Bank only. 

" To show how absurd the accusation is/- continued Mr. Davis, 
" although so widely believed that no denial can affect its cur- 
rency, take the following facts : I left :Mississippi when a boy to 
go to college ; thence went to West Point ; tliencc to the army. 
In 1835, I resigned, settled in a very retired place in the State, 
and was wholly unknown, except as remembered in tlie neighbor- 
hood where I had been raised. At the time when the Union 
Bank Bonds of Mississippi were issued, sold and repudiated — as 
I believe, justly — because tlieir issue was in violation of the State 
Constitution — I endeavored to have them paid by voluntary con- 
tributions ; and subsequently I sent agents to England to nego- 
tiate for this purpose.** 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 13 



CHAPTEK III. 

state of parties — Mr. Davis's position — Division in the ranks of the Democratic 
party — Debate on the Missouri Compromise — Mr. Davis defeated in election 
for governor of Mississippi. 

It has been said, that Mr. Davis was a Deraacrat in his polit- 
ical principles. But in that ever-widening divergence of opinion 
which finally ushered in the open rupture of the party, the gen- 
eral term, Democracy, after a time ceased to clearly define the 
tone and actual positions of men and parties. At least this was 
the case with the great and all-absorbing question of slavery 
restriction. The Missouri Compromise of 1820, which proliibited 
the extension of slavery to any of the public territories of the 
United States north of 36° 30', was, like every compromise, ever 
adopted on that, or perhaps any other question, totally lacking 
in the very necessary quality of cxplicitness. While slavery was 
prohibited north of the line, a cautious silence is preserved in 
regard to the domain on the south side, and a wide margin was 
left for future cavil. It so happened, however, that for thirty * 
years every new State which applied for admission into the 
Union, from the south side of the line,* elected a slave constitu- 
tion, and no occasion arose for a conflicting construction of the 
Missouri Compromise during that time. Indeed, so insignificant 
was the extent of the public domain in that direction, that the 
q^uestion of the extension or non-extension of slavery thereto 



14 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

was a matter of no practical importance, and would doubtless 
have been yielded by the Nortb. 

On the other hand, so immense was the territory to the nortli- 
west M'holly devoted by the terms of the Missouri Compromise 
to free labor, that there could be no doubt, tliat wheu formed 
into States, it would give to the North the three-fourtlis major- 
ity requisite to change the constitution itself, and thus abolish 
slavery in the States wliere it already existed. It was this event, 
anticipated and feared by far-seeiug statesmen like Mr. Calhoun, 
whicli first turned the attention of the Southern people to the 
acquisition of new territory in the South-west, wherewith to pre- 
serve the equilibrium between the Free and Slave States. 

With this view, Texas was annexed. But Texas was already 
a Slave State, and although opposition, and most strenuous 
opposition,* was made to the annexation itself, no question could 
arise as to slavery extension. But the immense territories of 
Arizona and New Mexico, acquired during the Mexican war, 
aroused afresh the fierce controversy which had slumbered so 
long. Even before the end of the war Mr. Wilmot introduced 
his famous proviso for the prohibition of slavery throughout all 
that vast region. The agitation culminated before the approach- 
ing Presidential election of 1848, and by that time the seeds 
were sown of that division in the ranks of the Democratic party 
which wrought its dissolution ten years later. The question 
which had been discreetly ignored by the Missouri compromise, 
was forced upon the country by the very magnitude of the stake at 

* Many leading Abolitionists, as Mr. Jolin Quincy Adams, pronounced the 
acquisition of Texas a good cause for dissolution of the Union. 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 15 

issue. " The immense territory of the South-west must not, shall 
not be devoted to slavery," said the Abolitionists. *' We fought 
for and paid for these common lands as well as yourselves," said 
tlie South, " and insist on the right to occupy them, and carry 
with us all of our property of every kind, and in the exercise of 
this right claim the protection of Congress." " You are both 
wrong," said the Douglass Democrats j " Congress has not the 
power either to protect or prohibit slavery in the territories ; the 
question must be left to tlie people of the territories themselves." 

The Presidential election of 1848 resulted in the choice of 
the Whig candidate, General Zachary Taylor. General Taylor 
received a strong support in the South, for which he was in- 
debted to the fact of being a large slaveholder. Mr. Davis was 
better acquainted with the genuine sentiments of his father-in- 
law on the subject of slavery-extension, and illustrated the un- 
bending strength of his convictions by throwing the whole weight 
of his influence against his election. 

The first act of the new President convinced the South that 
interest is not always to be relied on as a test of principle. The 
slaveholding President hurried on, by every means in his power, 
the admission of California as a Free State, thus presenting to 
the South their first instalment of that compensating balance of 
power which they expected to derive from their Mexican acqui- 
sitions. It is necessary to hasten over the events which followed. 
To allay the dangerous excitement which succeeded the admission 
of California, Mr. Clay brought forward in 1850 his famous 
compromise. Occupying the middle ground, one acceptable to 
the bulk of the people, it was adopted by Congress, and be- 



16 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

came, — the basis of fresh disputes. In common with the De- 
mocracy who advocated Congressional protection in the territories, 
Mr. Davis promptly placed himself in opposition to the measure. 
The concluding remarks of one of his speeches during the Con- 
gress of 1850, clearly defines the position assumed at this period 
by his party : — 

" But, sir, we are called upon to receive this as a measure of 
compromise — as a measure in which we of the minority are to re- 
ceive something. A measure of compromise I I look upon it 
as but a modest mode of taking that the claim to which has 
been more boldly asserted by others ; and, that I may be under- 
stood upon this question, and that my position may go forth to 
the country in the same columns that convey the sentiments of 
tlie Senator from Kentucky, I here assert, that never will I take 
less than the Missouri Compromise line extending to the Pacific 
Ocean, with the specific recognition of the right to hold slaves 
in the territory below that line ; and that, before such territo- 
ries are admitted into the Union as States, slaves may be taken 
there from any of the United States, at the option of the owners. 
I can never consent to give additional power to a majority to 
commit further aggressions upon the minority in this Union ; and 
I will never consent to any proposition which will have such a 
tendency, without a full guarantee or counteracting measure as 
connected with it." 

The debates on the Compromise Resolutions of Mr. Clay, 
occurred in January, 1850. In March of the same year, Mr. 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 17 

Dayis, in a debate with Mr. Cass of Michigan, expressed his 
views as to the Missouri Compromise. 

"Mr. Cass. — I wished to ask tlie honorable Senator from 
Mississippi if he could vote for the Missouri Compromise ?" 

" Mr. Davis. — I will answer the Senator from Michigan with 
great pleasure. I have stated on several occasions that I would 
take the Missouri Compromise. This I have said deliberately 
and decidedly on several occasions, and explained at some length 
in a recent speech on the resolutions of the Senator from Ken- 
tucky. I have stated that I considered it an ultimatum, less 
than I believed to be the rights of the South, but which I would 
now accept, to stop the agitation which now disturbs and en- 
dangers the Union." 

*' Mr. Cass. — As I had a conversation with the Senator on 
this subject in the morning, I supposed he understood the pre 
cise object I had in view. As this, however, appears not to be 
the case, I will ask him if he would accept the Missouri Compro- 
mise as it was reported by the statute providing for the admis- 
sion of Missouri into the Union." 

" Mr. Davis. — I understood the Senator, in a conversation this 
morning, to make that inquiry. I then told him I would not. I 
now answer before the Senate, No. To meet this inquiry, I wait- 
ed in the Senate chamber expecting that he would, at the expi- 
ration of the morning hour, address the Senate ; but as he did 
not, I left here to answer the summons to see a sick friend. I 
returned in a few minutes, as I was informed, after the Senator 
from Michigan commenced his address, and learned that he had 
signified a wish to ask me a question. It seemed to me proper 



18 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

to remind him, at the close of his remarks, of the wish lie Iiad 
annomiced. I now answer his question in its modified form. I 
would not take the terms of the Missouri act, but would accept 
its spirit if presented in terms expressible to this case. When I 
spoke of the Missouri Compromise, I spoke of it as an arrange- 
ment by which the territory was divided between the slave- 
Iiolding and the non-slaveholding interests ; I spoke in reference 
to the result — the intent of that compromise — which gave to 
each a portion. I have always been ready to rebuke that mean 
spirit that would evade its true meaning by a delusive adherence 
to its words. 

" I would not take the Compromise in the terms by which it 
was applied to the remaining part of the territory acquired un- 
der the name of Louisiana. I would not take it as applied to 
Texas, when that state was admitted into the Union, because 
the circmustances of both were different from those of the Mexi- 
can territory ; but I would take it if more applicable to the 
existing case, and extended to the Pacific. I considered that 
when the Senate had yesterday voted to receive petitions and to 
refer them to committees to consider upon the power of this 
government over slavery in the territories, over slavery in the 
District of Columbia, and over the future admission of slave 
states, we had taken one great step in advance, and one which 
should awaken the apprehension of the South ; and when in 
close connection with this action of the Senate, followed the re- 
mark of the honorable Senator from Michigan, that the Missouri 
Compromise could not be extended to the recent acquisitions 
from Mexico, I looked upon it as a conjunction in our political 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 19 

firmament, which boded one of those likely to be destroyed by 
the joint attraction of these planets. It was therefore that I 
spoke of the declaration as a thing to be noted — marked as the 
foreshadow of an event. If we are not to have non-intervention, 
the right to go into these territories and there claim whatever 
may be decided to be ours by tlie decree of nature — if we are to 
be debarred from acquiring by emigration, by enterprise, by ad- 
venture, by toil and labor equally with others from the common 
domain of the Union — if we are to be forbidden to use the com- 
mons belonging to the common field, of which we are joint own- 
ers — ^if, in addition to all this, we are told that no division can 
be made — that all of that of which we own in common must 
finally become the exclusive property of the other partners — in 
truth, sir, we are rapidly approaching that state of things con- 
templated by the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Calhoun,) 
when, without an amendment of the constitution, the rights of 
the minority will be held at the mercy of the majority. Give us 
our rights under the Constitution — the Constitution fairly con- 
strued — and we are content to take our chance, as our fathers 
did, for the maintenance of position and the Union. We are 
content to hold on to the old compact and, as we believe in the 
merits of our own institutions, we are willing to trust to time and 
fair opportunity for the working out of our own salvation. If we 
are to be excluded by Congressional Legislation from joint pos- 
session on the one hand, and denied every compromise which, by 
division, would give us a share, on the other— neither permitted 
to an equality of possession as a right, nor a divided occupation 
as a settlement, between proprietors — I ask what is the hope 



20 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

which remains to those who are already in a minority in this 
confederacy ? What do we gain by having a written constitu- 
tion, if sectional pride or sectional hate can hurt it, or passion, 
or interest, or caprice may dictate ? What do we gain by hav- 
ing a government based upon this written constitution, if, in 
truth, the rights of the minority are held in abeyance to the will 
of a majority." 

The Compromise was eflfected. The South yielding to the 
urgent appeals made to her in behalf of the Union, and influ- 
enced by the conspicuous talents of another of the Senators, 
Mr. Clay, gave her reluctant consent to the measure. In the 
various State elections of 1850, for Governors, Congressmen, 
&c., the question was put to the people whether they were ready 
to secede from the Union upon the failure to procure Congres- 
sional protection for slavery in the territories. In every State 
except South Carolina the decision was in the negative. In 
Mississippi the question came up in the elections for Governor, 
Mr. Davis being the secession, and Henry S. Foote the Union 
candidate. Mr. Davis was rejected, but his opponent was elect- 
ed by a majority of a little over nine hundred votes. It is cited 
as an instance of the personal popularity of Mr. Davis in his 
own State, that while he was defeated by fewer than a thousand 
votes, the majority in favor of the Union Convention two months 
before was seven thousand. 

The South, in accepting the Compromise of Mr. Clay, declared 
that it was the last concession they could make to the North, 
and that they would resist any further aggression on their rights, 
eveu to the extremity of the dissolution of the Union. But 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 21 

this declaration was derided in the North, and the anti-slavery 
sentiment became bolder with success, as had been predicted by 
Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Davis, and the other opponents of compromise, 
and now aspired to the complete overthrow of the peculiar in- 
stitution that had distinguished the people of the South from 
those of the North. 



22 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DA^^8. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Mr. Pierce's Administration— Mr. Davis is made Secretary of "War — ^Kansas- 
Nebraska Struggle — Lecompton Constitution — Dred Scott — Secession re- 
solved upon — Mr. Lincoln Elected — Secession — Mr. Davis's Adieu to the 
Senate. 

In the meantime, Mr. Davis contiimed to occupy the position 
of United States Senator. On the elevation of Mr. Pierce to 
the Presidency, in 1852, he was made a member of the Cabinet 
"m the capacity of Secretary of War — a post for which his pecu- 
liarly administrative talents well fitted him. 

Many measures of importance were introduced by him into his 
department. Among these were, the revision of the army regu- 
lations for the better observance of discipline ; the increase of 
the medical corps ; the introduction of camels ; the introduction 
of the light infantry or rifled system of tactics ; rifled muskets 
and the minie ball ; the increase of the army, and the explora- 
tion of the western frontier. 

Closely occupied during Mr. Pierce's administration in the 
routine of office, Mr. Davis is not particularly identified with any 
of the political events which occurred from 1852 to 1856. Never- 
tlieless, in order to preserve somewhat the connectedness of the 
previous and subsequent events of Mr. Davis's career, it is essen- 
tial to devote a passing notice to that great struggle for terri- 



LIFE OF JEFFERSOJT DAVIS. 23 

torial dominion wliicli seemed even more than the events of 1850 
to threaten a great catastrophe. 

In 1860, the question was npon the extension of slavery to the 
south of 36^^ 30'. The contest which succeeded related to terri- 
tory north of that line. 

In 1853, a bill was introduced for the organization of Kansas 
into a territorial government preparatory to admission into the 
Union. Kansas lies north of the latitude of 36^ 30', and conse- 
quently was not included in the terms of the last compromise, but 
was comprehended by the Missouri Compromise. The Commit- 
tee on Territories in the Senate reported the bill for the organ- 
ization of the territory, and this bill declared that the Missouri 
Compromise was superseded by the compromise measures of 1850. 
It held that the Missouri Compromise act being *' inconsistent 
with the principles of non-intervention by Congress with slavery 
in the States and Territories, as recognized by the legislation of 
1850, commonly called the Compromise Measures, is hereby de- 
clared inoperative and void; it being the true intent and meaning 
of this act not to legislate slavery into any territory or State, 
nor to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof per- 
fectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their 
own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States.'' 
After a lengthened contest, the resolutions were carried, the Mis- 
souri restriction repealed, and all the territories thrown open to 
the competition of slavery and freedom. Now came the struggle 
for Kansas. Thr North, enraged at the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise, made desperate efforts by means of Emigrant So- 
cieties, by violent appeals from her pulpits, by incendiary har- 



24 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS, 

angues at public assemblies, by fierce appeals through the press 
to stimulate emigration to Kansas and secure her organization 
as a Free State. 

A convention was held at Lecorapton, and a form of consti- 
tution adopted. With this constitution Kansas proceeded to 
apply for admission into the Union; but the constitution contain- 
ing a clause establishing slavery in the State, the application was 
rejected upon the ground of alleged illegality in the proceedings. 
It was declared that the Constitution had not been submitted to 
the people for their approval, and hence did not represent the 
true sentiments of the community. The constitution, as a whole, 
it is true, had not been submitted, but the convention, however, 
had taken care to submit to the popular vote for ratification or 
rejection the clause respecting slavery. It was also asserted 
that even this clause had not been submitted to the entire people 
of the State, some thirteen counties out of the forty-four not 
having registered their votes, and hence were not represented in 
the popular result. But it was shown that of these thirteen 
counties, four had refused to register their votes or to take any 
action on the subject, being principally settled by free-state men, 
who refused to recognize all legal authority in the State ; and 
that the neglect in the remaining nine occurred on account of 
their being so thinly settled, as shown in the later election held 
by the abolition convention, when they polled but ninety votes ; 
hence it was claimed that the opposition of the people of these 
counties to the measure could not have effected the result. But 
the application for admission was rejected, principally on account 
of the opposition of Mr. Douglas, who, startled at the intense 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 26 

unpopularity which his efforts for the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise had created for him in the North, was endeavoring 
to recover lost ground in tliat section, by measures that he sup- 
posed would conciliate the prejudices of the North. A large 
number of Democrats sided with Mr. Douglas, and the party 
became hopelessly divided into what were called the "Lecomp- 
ton " and the " Anti-Lecompt(f)n" factions Meanwhile, the Free- 
State men met in convention at Topeka, framed a constitution, 
submitted it for popular approval, none but Free- State men 
appearing at the polls ; and, declaring this instrument to have 
received the sanction of the people, they presented themselves at 
the door of Congress, claiming admission. A long, bitter 
struggle ensued ; and in this Kansas controversy we see the im- 
mediate forerunner of the intestine war between the two sectioua 
of the Union. 

About this time the famous Dred Scott decision by tho 
Supreme Court was obtained, which established the proposition 
that the Legislature of a Territory had no authority to exclude 
slavery from its limits. 

Tliis decision aroused the North anew ; and the ultra wing of 
the Democratic party accepting it as a cardinal principle, while 
the Douglas division of the party maintained the theory of the 
right of the people of a territory to retain or exclude slavery at 
their option, without the intervention of the general government, 
the split in the party became radical and permanent. 

Mr. Davis was, meanwhile (1857 ), re-elected to the Senate. He 
entered zealously into the exciting Kansas struggle, identifying 
himself as usual with the extreme constitutional wing of his party. 

2 



26 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DA.VI3. 

The organizatioa of the Repubhcan party, their nomination in 
the presidential election of 1860 of a distinctively sectional candi- 
date on a distinctively sectional and anti-slavery platform, was, in 
the judgment of Mr. Davis, in the event of its success, sufficient 
cause for the withdrawal of the South from a union with a people 
who were determined to disregard the obligations and to overrule 
the Hmitations imposed by the compact on which that "Union was 
based. Mr. Davis energetically advocated the right, and asserted, 
under such a contingency, the necessity of the dissolution. In the 
Democratic nominating convention in Mississippi, July 5, 1859, 
Mr. Davis said that — 

" The success of such a party would, indeed, produce an * irre- 
pressible conflict.' To you would be presented the question, Will 
you allow the constitutional Union to be changed into the despot- 
ism of a majority ? Will you become the subjects of a hostile 
government ? Or will you, outside of the Union, assert the 
equality, the liberty and sovereignty to which you were born ? 
For myself, I say — as I said on a former occasion — in the con- 
tingency of the election of a President on the platform of Mr. 
Seward's Rochester speech, let the Union be dissolved. Let the 
great, but not the greatest, evil come ; for — as did the great and 
good Calhoun, from whom is drawn that expression of value — I 
love and venerate the union of these States, but I love liberty and 
Mississippi more." 

At the last session of Congress, in February, 1860, Mr. Davis 
introduced a series of resolutions into the Senate, embodying the 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 27 

principles of the constitutional pro-slavery party, as set forth in 
the Dred Scott decision. They propounded the sovereignty of 
the separate States ; asserted that negro slavery formed an essen- 
tial part of the political institutions of various members of the 
Union ; that the union of the States rested on equality of rights ; 
that it was the duty of Congress to provide for the protection of 
slave property in the territories ; and that the inhabitants of a 
territory, when forming a State constitution, and not before, may 
provide for the continuance or abolition of slavery. 

At the Democratic presidential convention at Charleston, in the 
opening of the same year, Mr. Davis's Senate Resolutions were 
brought up and offered for acceptance as the official assertion of 
the principles of the party. But the Douglas Democrats were 
in great force at the convention, and determined not only on the 
nomination of their favorite as the presidential candidate, but on 
the official incorporation into the platform of the party of that 
distinctive principle in reference to slavery in the territories first 
promulgated by Mr. Douglas, and commonly described as " Squat- 
ter Sovereignty." But, after a session of three weeks, the conven- 
tion broke up, unable to agree either upon a platform or a candidate, 
and adjourned to meet at Baltimore in June. The re-assembhng 
of the convention resulted in a final and embittered separation of 
opposing delegations. The Southern representatives were deter- 
mined to accept no less than an enunciation of principles correspond- 
ing with Mr. Davis's Senate Resolutions, and the IN'orthern dele- 
gation, already yielding to the force of fanatical opinions in the 
North, equally resolute upon the nomination of Mr. Douglas and 
the acceptance of his peculiar views, separate conventions were 



28 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVI3. 

held by the two fragments, and two separate candidates, Mr. 
Douglas and Mr. Breckenridge, were put in nomination against 
Mr. Lincoln, whose election as President was the result. 

During the canvass, the North had been distinctly warned by 
the conservative parties, that the election of Lincoln by a strictly 
sectional vote, would be taken as a declaration of war against the 
South. The election of a President on strictly geographical 
grounds, an avowed hostility to an entire section of the country, 
with the confessed purpose of admitting the government in the 
interest and in accordance with the views of a majority in utter 
disregard of the constitutional rights of the minority, were con- 
sidered and asserted to be sufficient grounds for the withdrawal of 
the aggrieved States from the copartnership. Hence, when the 
result became known, the South did not hesitate. South Carolina 
took the lead, and in convention on the 18th of December, for- 
mally announced her connection with the States of the Union 
terminated and dissolved. On the 9th of January, 1861, the 
State of Mississippi followed the example of the " Palmetto State;" 
Alabama and Florida on the 11th of the same month, Georgia on 
the 20th, Louisiana on the 26th, and Texas on the 1st of Feb- 
ruary, successively withdrew ; and, solemnly declaring their connec- 
tion with the states under the former compact of union annulled 
and terminated. Secession was a completed fact — and for more 
tlian four years these States in conjunction with North Carolina, 
Yirghiia, Tennessee and Arkansas, maintained their separate and 
seceded condition ; how eventually conquered by the armies of the 
North, all the world knows. 

In a few days after the withdrawal of Mississippi from the Union, 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 29 

January 11th, Mr. Davis announced the secession of the State 
which he represented, and took a formal leave of the Senate. He 
preceded his withdrawal with an address, through which runs a 
vein of dignified moderation, not unmixed with a subdued sadness. 
He said : — 

" I rise, Mr. President, for the purpose of announcing to the 
Senate that I have satisfactory evidence that the State of Miss- 
issippi, by a solemn ordinance of her people in convention assem- 
bled, has declared her separation from the United States. 
Under these circumstances, of course, my functions are termina- 
ted here. It has seemed to me proper, however, that I should 
appear in the Senate to announce the fact to my associates, and 
I will say but very little more. The occasion does not invite me 
to go into argument ; and my physical condition would not per- 
mit me to do so if it were otherwise ; and yet it seems to become 
me to say something on the part of the State I here represent, 
on an occasion so solemn as this. 

" It is known to Senators who have served with me here, that 
I have for many years advocated, as an essential attribute of 
State sovereignty, the right of a State to secede from the Union. 
Therefore, if I had not believed there was justifiable cause ; if I * 
had thought that Mississippi was acting without sufificient provo- 
cation, or without an existing necessity, I should still, under my 
theory of the Government, because of my allegiance to the State 
of which I am a citizen, have been bound by her action. I, 
however, may be permitted to say that I do think that she has 
justifiable cause, and I approve of her act. I conferred with her 



30 LI1?B OP JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

people before that act was taken, counselled them then that if 
the state of things which they apprehended, should exist when 
the Convention met, they should take the action which they 
have now adopted. 

" I hope none who hear me will confound this expression of 
mine with the advocacy of the right of a State to remain in the 
Union, and to disregard its constitutional obligations by tlie 
nullification of the law. Such is not my theory. Nullification 
and secession, so often confounded, are indeed antagonistic prin- 
ciples. Nullification is a remedy which it is sought to apply 
within the Union, and against the agent of the States. It is 
only to be jUvStified when the agent has violated his constitu- 
tional obligation, and a State, assuming to judge for itself, denies 
the right of the agent thus to act, and appeals to the other States 
of the Union for a decision ; but when the States themselves, 
and when the people of the States, have so acted as to convince 
us that they will not regard our constitutional rights, then, and 
then for the first time, arises the doctrine of secession in its prac- 
tical application. 

"A great man who now reposes with his fathers, and wiio 
has been often arraigned for a want of fealty to the Union, 
advocated the doctrine of nullification, because it preserved the 
Union. It was because of his deep-seated attachment to the 
Union, his determination to find some remedy for existing ills 
short of a severance of the ties which bound South Carolina to 
the other states, that Mr. Calhoun advocated the doctrine of 
nullification, which he proclaimed to be peaceful, to be within 
the limits of State power — not to disturb the Union, but only to 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 31: 

be a means of bringing the agent before the tribunal of the 
States for their judgment. 

" Secession belongs to a different class of remedies. It is to 
be justified upon the basis that the States are sovereign. There 
was a time when none denied it. I hope the time may come 
again, when a better comprehension of the theory of our Govern- 
ment, and the inalienable rights of the people of the States, will 
prevent any one from denying that each State is a sovereign, 
and thus may reclaim the grants which it has made to any agent 
whomsoever. 

" I therefore say I concur in the action of the people of Miss- 
issippi, believing it to be necessary and proper, and should have 
been bound by their action, if my belief had been otherwise ; 
and this brings me to the important point which I wish on this 
last occasion to present to the Senate. It is by this confound- 
ing of nullification and secession that the name of a great man, 
whose ashes now mingle with his mother earth, has been invoked 
to justify coercion against a seceded State. The phrase * to exe- 
cute the laws,^ was an expression which General Jackson applied 
to the case of a State refusing to obey the laws, while yet a mem- 
ber of the Union. That is not the case which is now presented. 
The laws are to be executed over the United States, and upon 
the people of the United States. They have no relation to any 
foreign country. It is a perversion of terms, at least it is a 
great misapprehension of the case, which cites that expression for 
application to a State which has withdrawn from the Union. 
You may make war on a foreign State. If it be the purpose of 
gentlemen, they may make war against a State which has with- 



82 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

drawn from the Union ; but there are no laws of the United 
States to be executed within the limits of a seceded State. A State 
finding herself in the condition in which Mississippi has judged 
she is, in which her safety requires that she should provide for 
the maintenance of her rights out of the Union, surrenders all 
the benefits, (and they are known to be many), deprives herself 
of the advantages (they are known to be great), severs all the 
ties of affection (and they are close and enduring), which have 
bound her to the Union ; and, thus divesting herself of every 
benefit, taking upon herself every burden, she claims to be ex- 
empt from any power to execute the laws of the United States 
within her limits. 

" I well remember an occasion when Massachusetts was ar- 
raigned before the bar of the Senate, and when then the doctrine 
of coercion was rife, and to be applied against her, because of 
the rescue of a fugitive slave in Boston. My opinion then was 
the same that it is now. [Not in a spirit of egotism, but to show 
that I am not influenced in my own opinion because the case is 
my own, I refer to that time and that occasion as containing 
the opinion which I then entertained, and on which my present 
conduct is based. I then said, if Massachusetts, following her 
through a stated line of conduct, chooses to take the last step 
which separates her from the Union, it is her right to go, and I 
will neither vote one dollar nor one man to coerce her back ; 
but will say to her, God speed, in memory of the kind associa- 
tions which once existed between her and the other States. 

" It has been a conviction of pressing necessity, it has been a 
belief that we are to be deprived in the Union of the rights which 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 38 

our fathers bequeathed to us, which has brought Mississippi into 
her present decision. She has heard proclaimed the theory tliat 
all men are created free and equal, and this made the basis of an 
attack upon her social institutions ; and the sacred Declaration of 
Independence has been invoked to maintain the position of the 
equality of the races. That Declaration of Independence is to be 
construed by the circumstance and purposes for which it was 
made. The communities were declarmg their independence ; the 
people of those communities were asserting that no man was born 
— to use the language of Mr. Jefferson — booted and spurred to 
ride over the rest of mankind ; that men were created equal — mean- 
ing the men of the political community ; and that there was no 
divine right to rule ; that no man inherited the right to govern ; 
that there were no classes by which power and place descended to 
families, but that all stations were equally within the grasp of 
each member of the body politic. These were the great principles 
they announced ; these were the purposes for which they made 
their declaration ; these were the ends to which their enunciation 
was directed. They have no reference to the slave ; else, how 
happened it that among the items of arraignment made against 
George III. was, that he endeavored to do just what the North 
has been endeavoring of late to do — to stir up insurrection among 
our slaves ? Had the Declaration announced that the negroes were 
free and equal, how was the Prince to be arraigned for stirring 
up insurrection among them ? And how was this to be enumera- 
ted among the high crimes which caused the colonies to sever 
their connection with the mother country ? When our Constitu- 
tion was formed, the same idea was rendered more palpable ; for 

2* 



34 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

there we find provision made for that very class of persons as pro- 
perty : they were not put upon the footing of equahty with white 
men — not even upon that of paupers and convicts ; but, so far as 
representation was concerned, were discriminated against as a 
lower caste, only to be represented in the numerical proportion of 
three-fifths. 

" Then, Senators, we recur to the compact which binds us to- 
gether — we recur to the principles upon which our Government 
was founded ; and when you deny them, and when you deny to 
us the right to withdraw from a Government which, thus pervert- 
ed, threatens to be destructive of our rights, we but tread in the 
path of our fathers when we proclaim our independence, and take 
the hazard. This is done, not in hostility to others, not to injure 
any section of the country, not even for own pecuniary benefit, 
but from the high and solemn motive of defending and protecting 
the rights we inherited, and which it is our sacred duty to trana- 
mit unshorn to our children. 

" I find in myself, perhaps, a type of the general feeling of my 
constituents towards yours. I am sure I feel no hostility to you, 
Senators from the North. I am sure there is not one of you, 
whatever sharp discussion there may have been between us, to 
whom I cannot now say, in the presence of my God, I wish you 
well ; and such, I am sure, is the feehng of the people whom I 
represent towards those whom you represent. I therefore feel 
that I but express their desire when I say I hope, and they hope, 
for peaceful relations with you, though we must part. They may 
be mutually beneficial to us in the future, as they have been in 
the past, if you so will it. The reverse may bring disaster on 



LIFE OF JEFFEKSON DAVIS. 35 

every portion of the country ; and if you will have it thus, we 
will invoke the God of our fathers, who delivered them from the 
power of the lion, to protect us from the ravages of the bear ; and 
thus, putting our trust in God, and in our own firm hearts and 
strong arms, we will vindicate the right as best we may. 

" In the course of my service here, associated at different times 
with a great variety of senators, I see now around me some with 
whom I have served long. There may have been points of colhsion ; 
but whatever of offense there has been to me, I leave here : I 
carry with me no hostile remembrance. Whatever offense I have 
given which has not been redressed, or for which satisfaction has 
not been demanded, I have, Senators, in this hour of our parting, 
to offer you my apology for any pam which, in heat of discussion, 
I have inflicted. I go hence unencumbered of the remembrance 
of any injury received, and having discharged the duty of makmg 
the only reparation in my power for any injury offered. 

'' Mr. President and Senators, having made the announcement 
which the occasion seemed to me to requke, it only remains for 
me to bid you a final adieu." 



36 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 



CHAPTER V. 

Confederate Congress at Montgomery — Inauguration of Mr. Davis as Provis- 
ional President — Commissioners to Europe — Fort Sumter — Mr. Lincoln's 
call — Confederate Finances — ^Mr. Davis at Bull Run — Mr. Davis re-elected 
for six years — ^Mason and Slidell. 

Three weeks after Mr. Davis's withdrawal from Congress, on 
the 4th of February, 1861, the delegates to the Confederate Con- 
gress assembled at Montgomery, Alabama. Their first act was 
the formation of a provisional constitution to continue in operation 
for one year. Under this constitution, Mr. Davis was elected 
President, and Alexander H. Stevens of Georgia, was elected 
Vice-President. The inauguration took place on the 18th of 
February. 

The new government being organized, and provision made for 
collecting revenue and the formation of an army of 100,000 men, 
its attention was next directed to anticipated foreign relations. 
Early in the month of March, commissioners were sent to the 
leading powers of Europe and to Washington. 

The commissioners to Washington were refused all official inter- 
course by Mr. Seward, yet they held an informal communication 
with the Secretary through John A. Campbell, one of the justices 
of the Supreme Court of the United States. The burden of this 
iiTegular correspondence between the Confederate commissioners 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 37 

and Mr, Seward related to the affair of Fort Sumter, which was 
one of the two Federal strongholds which the Southerners failed 
to peacefully occupy. The commissioners demanded its surrender, 
which was refused ; but President Lincoln gave an assurance that 
he would give notice of his intention should he determine to pro- 
vision the fort. lie gave the notice accordingly, and the attempt 
to supply the garrison was the immediate occasion of the attack 
which followed. Fort Sumter was bombarded on the 12th of 
April, 1861. It was the first act of the war. 

In his message of April 29, Mr. Davis, after mentioning the 
fact of the refusal by Mr. Lincoln to grant an audience to the 
Confederate Commissioners, proceeds thus : — 

" During the interval, the Commissioners had consented to waive 
all questions of form, with the firm resolve to avoid war, if possible. 
They went so far even as to hold, during that long period, un- 
official intercourse through an intermediary, whose high position 
and character inspired the hope of success, and through whom 
constant assurances were received from the Government of the 
United States of its peaceful intentions — of its determination to 
evacuate Fort Sumter ; and, further, that no measure would be 
introduced changing the existing status prejudical to the Confede- 
rate States ; that in the event of any change in regard to Fort 
Pickens, notice would be given to the Commissioners. 

" The crooked paths of diplomacy can scarcely farnish an ex- 
ample so wanting in courtesy, in candor, in directness, as was the 
course of the United States Government towards our Commission- 
ers in Washington. For proof of this, I refer to the annexed 



38 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

documents, taken in connection with further facts, which I now 
proceed to relate : — 

" Early in April, the attention of the whole country was attract- 
ed to extraordinary preparations for an extensive military and 
naval expedition in New York and other Northern ports. These 
preparations commenced in secrecy, for an expedition whose desti- 
nation was concealed, and only became known when nearly com- 
pleted ; and on the 5th, 6th and 7th of April, transports and 
vessels of war with troops, munitions, and military supplies, sailed 
from Northern ports, bound southward. 

" Alarmed by so extraordinary a demonstration, the Commis- 
sioners requested the delivery of an answer to their official com- 
munication of the 12th of March; and the reply dated on the 
15 th of the previous month, from which it appears that during 
the whole interval, whilst the Commissioners were receiving assur- 
ances calculated to inspire hope of the success of their mission, the 
Secretary of State and the President of the United States had 
already determined to hold no intercourse with them whatever j 
to refuse even to listen to any proposals they had to make, and 
had profited by the delay created by their own assurances, in 
order to prepare secretly the means for effective hostile opera- 
tions. 

" That these assurances were given has been virtually confessed 
by the Government of the United States, by its act of sending a 
messenger to Charleston to give notice of its purpose to use force 
if opposed in its intention of supplying Fort Sumter. 

" No more striking proof of the absence of good faith in the 
conduct of the Government of the United States towards the 



I 



LIFE OF JEFFEESON DAVIS. 39 

Confederacy can be required, than is contained in the circum- 
stances which accompanied this notice. 

" According to the usual course of navigation, the vessels com- 
posing the expedition, and designed for the relief of Fort Sumter, 
might be looked for in Charleston harbor on the 9th of April. 
Yet our Commissioners in Washington were detained under assur- 
ances that notice should be given of any miUtary movement. The 
notice was not addressed to them, but a messenger was sent to 
Charleston to give notice to the Governor of South Carolina, and 
the notice was so given at a late hour on the 8th of April, the eve 
of the very day on which the fleet might be expected to arrive. 

" That this manoeuvre failed in its purpose, was not the fault of 
those who controlled it. A heavy tempest delayed the arrival of 
the expedition, and gave time to the commander of our forces at 
Charleston to ask and receive instructions of the Government. 
Even then, under all the provocation incident to the contemptuous 
refusal to Usten to our Commissioners, and the treacherous course 
of the Government of the United States, I was sincerely anxious 
to avoid the effusion of blood, and dh-ected a proposal to be made 
to the commander of Fort Sumter, who had avowed himself to be 
nearly out of provisions, that we would abstain from directing our 
fire at Fort Sumter if he would promise not to open fire on our 
forces unless first attacked. This proposal was refused. The con- 
clusion was, that the design of the United States was to place the 
besieging force at Charleston between the simultaneous fire of the 
fleet and fort. The fort should, of course, be at once reduced. 
This order was executed by General Beauregard with skill and 
success." 



40 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

Three days after the bombardment of Sumter, Mr. Lincohi 
issued his memorable call for seventy-five tliousand troops, and 
in a few weeks more all the Border States save Kentucky, Mis- 
souri and Maryland had passed ordinances of secession. 

Meantime, on the 17 th of April, 4i proclamation was issued by 
Mr. Davis offermg letters of marque to all persons who might 
desire to engage in privateering. Yolunteering, too, proceeded 
rapidly and with enthusiasm. The military force now in the 
field was 35,000 men. Of this number about 19,000 were at 
Charleston, Pensacola and Mobile. The remainder were on the 
route to Virginia. 

The plan of the war was controlled and decided by circum- 
stances. It would have been absurd for an agricultural people 
to enter upon a war of invasion within three months after their 
organization as a nation, and that, too, against a commercial and 
manufacturing people, greatly superior in numbers and wealth. 
Peace or defensive warfare were the only alternatives of the Con- 
federate State. Without the means wherewith to clothe, equip, 
or move an army, unless imported from abroad — accustomed to 
depend upon their very enemies for everything, save food, they 
could not undertake a war of invasion with any hopes of success. 
Yet there was a large party opposed to the administration, who, 
to the last, advocated that policy, and chiefly to their clamors 
were owing the disastrous offensive movements attempted at a 
later period of the war. 

Another consequence of their isolated position and purely 
agricultural resources, was the lack of money. Cotton had 
always been the only resource of tlie people, and that, owing to 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. . 41 

the blockade, soon failed the Government. Loans were resorted 
to, but the people could only lend cotton, arid very soon bad 
little of that commodity to lend. There were two methods of 
supplying its wants open to the Treasury — one was taxation in 
kind, the other, an indefinite issue of Treasury notes and Gov- 
ernment bonds. By the former mode the army might at least 
have been supplied with clothing and provisions, without a resort 
to credit ; but it was not adopted till the currency had already 
been ruined by inflation. Accordingly, Treasury notes were 
issued, which, like the money generated by all civil commotions, 
even when successful, speedily depreciated. 

Many efforts were made to sustain the credit of the Govern- 
ment ; some bank directors placed the whole means of the cor- 
porations they controlled at the disposal of Government, thence- 
forth issuing only Confederate notes, and the State Legislatures 
authorized executors, trustees and guardians, to invest the whole 
of the funds controlled by them in Government securities. The 
history of the French assignats, and the American revolutionary 
paper of eighty years previous, might have shown the futility of 
these efforts. But the mass of mankind can only be taught by 
personal experience. By the end of 1861, the currency had 
already depreciated thirty per cent. 

One of the means resorted to for the purpose of replenishing 
the Treasury was the sequestration of the property of " alien 
enemies ;" that is, of Northern citizens. It was estimated that 
the amount of indebtedness from Southern to Northern citizens 
was two hundred millions of dollars. Ou the 21st of May the 
Ccyifederate Congress passed an act prohibiting the payment by 



4^- LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

individuals of any portion of this debt. Process of garnish- 
ment was also authorized, to reach debts in the hands of attor- 
neys for collection. But these measures ceased as the first bit- 
terness of the struggle wore away. 

Dr. Craven, in his interesting work, " The Prison Life of Jef- 
ferson Davis," relates an interesting conversation held with Mr. 
Davis on the subject of the failure of the Confederate currency : 
*' Being interested," says Dr. Craven, " by what Mr. Davis had 
said of the failure of the Confederate currency, and of some 
scheme by which it might have been prevented, I expressed my 
curiosity, and ventured to request some explanation, as there 
appeared to me no manner in which Confederate paper could 
have been sustained at par, 

" Mr. Davis replied, that one rule of his life was, never to ex- 
press regret for the inevitable : to let the dead bury its dead in 
regard to all political hopes that were not realized. Fire is not 
quenched with tow, nor the past to be remedied by lamentations. 
It would, however, have been possible, in his judgment, to have 
kept the currency of his people good for gold, or very nearly so, 
during the entire struggle ; and, had this been done, the con- 
trast, if nothing else, would have reduced United States securi- 
ties to zero, and so terminated the contest. The plan urged 
upon Mr. Meraminger was as follows — a plan Mr. Davis privately 
approved, but had not time to study and take the responsibility 
of directing, until too late : 

" At the time of secession there were not less than three mil- 
lion bales of cotton in the South — plantation bales of 400 pounds 



-UFE OF JEFFERSOK DAVIS. 43 

weight each. These the Secretary of the Treasury recommended 
to buy from the planters, wlio were then willing, and even eager 
to sell to the Government at ten cents per pound of Confederate 
currency. These three million bales were to be rushed off to 
Europe before the blockade was of any efficiency, and there held 
for one or two years, until the price reached not less than seventy 
or eighty cents per pound — and we all know it reached much 
higher during the war. This would have given a cash basis in 
Europe of not less than a thousand million dollars in gold, and 
all securities drawn against this balance in bank would maintain 
par value. Such a sum would have more than sufficed all the 
needs of the Confederacy during the war ; would have sufficed, 
with economic management, for a war of twice the actual dura- 
tion ; and this evidence of Southern prosperity and stability 
could not but have acted powerfully on the minds, the securities 
and the avarice of the New-England rulers of the North. He 
was far from reproaching Mr. Memminger. The situation was 
new. No one could have foreseen the course of events, Wiien 
too late the wisdom of the proposed measure was realized, but 
the inevitable * too late^ was interposed. The blockade had be- 
come too stringent, for one reason, and the planters had lost 
their pristine confidence iu Confederate currency. When we 
might have put silver in the purse, we did not put it there. When 
we had only silver on the tongue, our promises were forced to 
become excessive." 

On the 21st of May, the Confederate Congress permanently 
adjourned to Richmond, foreseeing that Virginia would be the 



44 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

most important theatre of the approaching conflict. At that 
time it was estimated that the organized forces of the Southrons 
amounted to about one hundred thousand men. Of these, sixty- 
thousand were concentrated in Virginia, at Manassas Junction. 
On the 22d of July, the battle of Bull Run was fought at that 
point, and resulted, as is well-known, in the disastrous defeat of 
the Federal forces. 

On the day after the battle, the following despatch from Mr. 
Davis was read in the Southern Congress ; 

" Manassas Junction, Sunday Night. 
" The night has closed upon a hard-fonght field. Our forces 
were victorious. The enemy were routed, and precipitately fled, 
abandoning a large amount of arms, knapsacks and baggage. 
The ground was strewn for miles with those killed, and the farm- 
houses and grounds around were filled with the wounded. Pur- 
suit was continued along several routes towards Leesburg and 
Centreville until darkness covered the fugitives. We have cap- 
tured many field-batteries and stands of arms, and one of tlie 
United-States flags. Many prisoners have been taken. Too high 
praise cannot be bestowed, whether for the skill of the principal 
oflBcers, or the gallantry of all our troops. Tiie battle was 
mainly fought on our left. Our force was 15,000 ; that of the 

enemy was estimated at 35,000, 

" Jefferson Davis." 

Mr. Davis rightly attached immense importance to the result 
of this first battle of the war. He had made great prepara- 
tions to ensure success, and was himself present upon the field. 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 45 

Its most beneficial results to the Confederacy was the immense 
impetus whicli it gave to recruiting. Under the intense and 
wide-spread enthusiasm awakened by it, the array quickly swelled 
in numbers from one hundred thousand to two hundred and 
ninety thousand men. Forward movements were made, and in 
the elation which followed the battle, the advocates of an " On 
to Washington " policy increased. The flag of the " Stars and 
Bars" was, indeed, flaunted from the summit of Munsen's Hill, 
where the inhabitants of the city of Washington could see its 
proud folds waving. The rapid increase of the Federal forces, 
however, determined the administration against offensive move- 
ments. 

Moreover, a change was made in the war policy of the United 
States, which promised to give full occupation to the Confeder- 
ate troops in other fields than those of Virginia. Notwithstand- 
ing the attempted neutrality of Kentucky, troops were organized 
by the Confederate authorities, and sent into that State ; while 
in Missouri, although rather left to her own resources by the in- 
surrectionary government, the most active military operations 
took place. The military genius of the Southern Commanding 
General, Price, enabled him to sustain himself, and carry on an 
active campaign with almost no assistance from the Government. 

At the expiration of his provisional authority, Mr. Davis again 
became a candidate for the Presidency. The election under the 
permanent Constitution was held on the 6th of November, and 
resulted in the choice of Mr. Davis for President, and Mr. 
Stephens for Yice President. 

The presidential message was transmitted to Congress in a few 



i6 LIFE OF JEFFEKSON DAVIS. 

days after the re-election. So much as embraces a condensed 
resume of the progress of events up to its date may be given 
here : — 

"To the Congress of the Confederate States : — 

** The few weeks which have elapsed since your adjournment 
have brought us so near the close of the year, that we are now 
able to sum up its general results. The retrospect is such as 
should. fill the hearts of our people with gratitude to Providence 
for his kind interposition in their behalf. Abundant yields have 
rewarded the labor of the agriculturist, whilst the manufactur- 
ing interest of the Confederate States was never so prosperous as 
now. The necessities of the times have called into existence new 
branches of manufactures, and given a fresh impulse to the activ- 
ity of those heretofore in operation. The means of the Confed- 
erate States for manufacturing the necessaries and comforts of 
life within themselves increase as the conflict continues, and we 
are gladly becoming independent of the rest of the world for the 
supply of such military stores and munitions as are indispensable 
for war. 

" The operations of the army, soon to be partially inten'upted 
by the approaching winter, have afforded a protection to the 
country, and shed a lustre upon its arms, through the trying vicis- 
situdes of more than one arduous campaign, which entitle our 
brave volunteers to our praise and our gratitude. 

" From its commencement up to the present period, the war 
has been enlarging its proportions and extending its boundaries, 
so as to include new fields. The conflict now extends from the 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 4f 

shores of the Chesapeake to the confines of Missouri and Arizona ; 
yet sudden calls from the remotest points for military aid have 
been met with promptness enough, not only to avert disaster in 
the face of superior numbers, but also to roll back the tide of 
invasion from the border. 

" When the war commenced, the enemy were possessed of cer- 
tain strategic points and strong places within the Confederate 
States. They greatly exceeded us in numbers, in available re- 
sources, and in the supplies necessary for war. Military estab- 
lishments had been long organized, and were complete ; the 
navy, and, for the most part, the army, once common to both, 
were in their possession. To meet all this, we had to create, not 
only an army in the face of war itself, but also military establish- 
ments necessary to equip and place it in the field. It ought, 
indeed, to be a subject of gratulation that the spirit of the volim- 
teers and the patriotism of the people have enabled us, under 
Providence, to grapple successfully with these difficulties. 

" A succession of glorious victories at Bethel, Bull Run, Man- 
assas, Springfield, Lexington, Leesburg, and Belmont, has check- 
ed the wicked invasion which greed of gain and the unhallowed 
lust of power brought upon our soil, and has proved that num- 
bers cease to avail when directed against a people fighting for 
the sacred right of self government and the privileges of freemen. 
After seven months of war, the enemy have not only failed to 
extend their occupancy of our soil, but new States and Territories 
have been added to our Confederacy ; while, instead of their 
threatened march of unchecked conquest, they have been driven, 
at more than one point, to assume the defensive ; and, upon a 



48 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

fair comparison between the two belligerents, as to men, military 
means, and financial condition, the Confederate States are rela- 
tively much stronger now than when the struggle commenced. 

" Since your adjournment, the people of Missouri have con- 
ducted the war, in the face of almost unparalleled difficulties, with 
a spirit and success alike worthy of themselves and of the great 
cause in which they are struggling. Since that time, Kentucky 
too has become the theatre of active hostilities. The Federal 
forces have not only refused to acknowledge her right to be 
neutral, and have insisted upon making her a party to the war, 
but have invaded her for the purpose of attacking the Confeder- 
ate States. Outrages of the most despotic character have been 
perpetrated upon her people ; some of her most eminent citizens 
have been seized, and borne away to languish in foreign prisons, 
without knowing who were their accusers, or the specific charges 
made against them ; while others have been forced to abandon 
their homes, their families, and property, and seek a refuge in 
distant lands. 

" Finding that the Confederate States were about to be inva- 
ded through Kentucky, and that her people, after being deceived 
into a mistaken security, were unarmed, and in danger of being 
subjugated by the Federal forces, our armies were marched into 
tliat State to repel the enemy, and prevent their occupation of 
certain strategetic points, which would have given them great 
advantages in the contest — a step which was justified, not only 
by the necessities of self-defense on the part of the Confederate 
States, but also by a desire to aid the people of Kentucky. It 
was never intended by the Confederate Government to conquer 



LIFE OF JEFFEESON DAVIS. 4-9 

-or coerce the people of that State ; but, on the contrary, it was 
declared by our Generals that they would withdraw their tr©ops 
if the Federal Government would do likewise. Proclamation 
was also made of the desire to respect the neutrality of Kentucky, 
and the intention to abide by the wishes of her people as soon as 
they were free to express their opinions. 

" These declarations were approved by me, and I should re* 
gard it as one of the best effects of the march of our troops into 
Kentucky if it should end in giving to her people liberty of 
choice, and a free opportunity to decide their own destiny accord- 
ing to their own will." 

The year 1861 closed with a blow to the hopes of the Confed- 
erate States from a quarter where much that was favorable had 
been anticipated. The main hopes for the speedy success of their 
cause entertained by both the Government and people was 
founded upon the confident expectation of interference by Eng- 
land and France. The complication arising ©ut of the capture 
of Mason and Slidell on the 8th of November, it was hoped, 
would ripen into open hostility on the part of England. It wag 
believed throughout the Southern States that the long-expected 
crisis had now arrived. England had demanded the surrender 
of the prisoners, and it was believed, from the tone of the iS'orth- 
ern press, that the demand would be refused. All eyes were 
turned with intense interest to the American Secretary of State. 
Despite the immense popular pressure brought to bear upon him 
by the peace party North, Mr. Seward, casting aside the tech- 
nical doubts and difficulties which, strangely enough, seem to 

3 



50 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

have beset his view of the law of the case, decided to surren- 
der the prisoners. Thus at once were dashed to the ground the 
hopes of intervention which had been conceived by the Con- 
federates. 



LIFE OF JEFFEESON DAVIS. 51 



CHAPTER YI. 

Dearth of Arms — Reverses — Fort Donelson— Evacuation of Bowling Green 
and Nashville— Mr. Davis recasts military system— Reverses continue — 
New Orleans and Memphis fall — Affairs in Virginia. 

The worst result to the South of the neutrality of Europe 
was felt in a deficiency of arms and munitions. Disappointed in 
their expectations of supplies from foreign markets, the Confed- 
erate authorities turned their attention to their manufacture. In 
default of muskets and rifles, old shot-guns were brought up and 
dirks and pikes for a while supplied the place of bayonets. 

They were fated to experience, in the outset of the campaign 
f)f 1862, several reverses in the field. In the latter part of 
February, the Federal army of the West obtained their first 
important successes. Forts Donelson and Henry were captured, 
Bowling Green evacuated, and Nashville surrendered. The 
Confederate line of defense in the West, indeed, was swept away, 
and the heart of the South-Western States menaced. 

The imminent dangers threatened by these reverses only infused 
redoubled energy into Mr. Davis's Administration. The army 
was placed upon a dififerent footing. Nearly all the troops, 
anticipating a short war, had enlisted for a year ; many for 
six months only. Mr. Davis had, from the first, been opposed 
to short enlistments. He bad served in the Mexican war, where 



52 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS, 

lie had witnessed its bad effects. " I deem it proper," be said ia 
his message of February, " to advert to the fact, that the process 
of furloughs and re-enlistments in progress for the last month 
had so far disorganized and weakened our forces, as seriously 
to impair our activity for successful defense ; but I heartily 
congratulate you that this evil which I had foreseen, but was 
powerless to prevent, may now be said to be substantially at an 
end, and that we shall cot again during the war be exposed to 
seeing our strength diminished by this frightful cause of disaster 
— short enlistments." 

There was another fault in the manner of raising armies 
in the South ; it depended on voluntary enlistment. This might 
suffice for a short war, but for prolonged effort it could not be 
relied upon. It moreover had the effect of throwing the burden 
of the war upon the patriotic, leaving the lukewarm, the selfish, 
and tlie mercenary to escape the dangers and inconveniences of 
active services. Mr. Davis, therefore, transmitted to Congress 
the following message :- 

" To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Confed- 
erate States: 

" The operation of the various laws now in force for raising 
armies has exhibited the necessity for reform. The frequent 
changes and amendments which have been made have rendered 
the system so complicated as to make it often quite difficult to 
determine what the law really is, and to what extent prior 
amendments are modified by more recent legislation. 

" There is also embarrassment from conflict between State and 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 53 

Confederate legislation. I am happy to assure you of the entire 
harmony of purpose and cordiality of feeling which has continued 
to exist between myself and the executives of the several States ; 
and it is to this cause that our success in keeping adequate forces 
in the field is to be attributed. 

" These reasons would suffice for inviting your earnest atten- 
tion to the necessity of some simple and general system for 
exercising the power of raising armies, which is vested in Con- 
gress by the Constitution. 

"But there is another and more important consideration. 
The vast preparations made by the enemy for a combined assault 
at numerous points on our frontier and seaboard have produced 
results that might have been expected. They have animated 
the people with a spirit of resistance so general, so resolute, and 
so self-sacrificing, that it requires rather to be reg:ulated than to 
be stimulated. The right of the State to demand, and the duty of 
each citizen to render military service, need only to be stated to 
be admitted. It is not, however, a wise or judicious policy to 
place in active service that portion of the force of the people 
which experience has shown to be necessary as a reserve. 
Youths under the age of eighteen years require further instruc- 
tion ; men of mature experience are needed for maintaining 
order and good government at home, and in supervising prepar- 
ations for rendering efficient the aimies in the field. These two 
classes constitute the proper reserve for home defense, ready to 
be called out in case of :iny emergency, and to be kept in the 
field only while the emergency exists. 

" But in order to maintain this reserve intact, it is necessary 



54 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

that iu a great war like that in which we are now engaged, all 
persons of intermediate ages not legally exempt for good cause, 
fchould pay their debt of military service to the country, that 
the burdens should not fall exclusively on the most ardent and 
patriotic. I therefore recommend the passage of a law declar- 
ing that all persons residing within the Confederate States 
between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five years, and rightfully 
subject to military duty, shall be held to be in the military ser- 
vice of the Confederate States, and that some plain and simple 
method be adopted for their prompt enrolment and organization, 
repealing all of the legislation heretofore enacted which would 
conflict with the system proposed. 

'Jefferson Davis. 

In accordance with the recommendations of this message, an 
act was passed on the 16th of April, which provided for the 
enrolment of all persons liable to military duty between the ages 
of eighteen and forty-five. 

The Confederate line of defense in the west, w^as, iu consequence 
of the late reverses, greatly contracted. It now extended from 
Memphis, in the west, through Grand Junction, Corinth, and 
Chattanooga, along the northern borders of Alabama and MissiS' 
sippi. Despite the serious check received by the Federal forces at 
Shiloh, they slowly continued to gain ground in this quarter. 
Corinth was occupied in April, as were the towns of Huntsville 
and Florence, in North Alabama. In the south-w^est, still more 
important successes were achieved by the Union forces in the cap* 
ture of New Orleans on the 1st of May, and that of Memphis on 



LIFE OP JEFFERSON DAVIS. 65 

the 6th of June following. In Missouri, too, the Confederates 
were equally unfortunate, being entirely driven from that State. 

In Virginia the Confederates were more successful. In a series 
of great battles, of which the most noted were those of Martins- 
burg, Seven Pines, and Fredericksburg, the Confederates were 
entitled to the claim of brilliant victory. But at last nothing 
decisive resulted from any of these bloody struggles, while the 
terrible expenditure of strength and resources which they cost the 
rebellion told heavily against it in the future. Already the 
drain had begun to deplete the country of its young men, and it 
was found necessary to extend the age of liabiUty to conscription. 
Accordingly, Mr, Davis, in his Message of the 15th of August, 
called the attention of Congress to this subject : 

" The report of the Secretary of War, which is submitted, con- 
tains numerous suggestions for the legislation deemed desirable in 
order to add to the efficiency of the service. I invite your favor- 
able consideration especially to those recommendations which are 
intended to secure the proper execution of the conscript law, and 
the consolidation of companies, battalions, and regiments, when so 
reduced ia strength as to impair that uniformity of organization 
which is necessary in the army, while an undue burden is imposed 
on the Treasury. The necessity for some legislation for controlling 
military transportation on the railroads, and improving then* 
present defective condition, forces itself upon the attention of the 
Government, and I trust that you will be able to devise satisfac- 
tory measures for attaining this purpose. The legislation on the 
subject of general officers involves the service in some difficulties, 



56 LIFE OF JEFFER30N DAVIS. 

which are pointed out by the Secretary, and for which the remedy 
suggested by him seems appropriate. 

" In connection with this subject, I am of opinion that prudence 
dictates some provision tor the increase of the army, in the event 
of emergencies not now anticipated. The very large increase of 
force recently called into the field by the President of the United 
States, may render it necessary hereafter to extend the provisions 
of the conscript law, so as to embrace persons between the age of 
thirty-five and forty-five years. The vigor and efficiency of our 
present forces, their condition, and the skill and ability which 
distinguish their leaders, inspire the belief that no farther enrol- 
ment will be necessary ; but a wise foresight requires that if a 
necessity should be suddenly developed during the recess of Con- 
gress, requiring increased forces for our defense, means should 
exist for calling such forces into the field, without awaiting the 
reassembling of the legislative department of the Government." 

Meanwhile, the currency continued to depreciate alarmingly. 
The price of the necessaries of life, partly in consequence of this 
depreciation, became enormous, and at one period there was great 
fear lest there should be an almost total failure in the supply of 
Bait. A special Act of Congress exempted from military service 
those who were engaged in its manufacture ; the earthen floors of 
old smoke-houses were filtered with water, and boiled down ; and 
farmers hundreds of miles in the interior drove their wagons to 
the coast, and supplied themselves and their neighbors with the 
precious commodity ; yet, despite these efforts, salt reached, iu 
many localities, the fabulous price of fifty dollars per bushel. 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. St 

On the whole, the events of the year 1862 augured unfavorably 
for the final success of the war for the Southern cause. The Con- 
federate territory was constantly growing smaller, the number of 
able-bodied men was being fatally reduced, while the depreciation 
of the currency was approaching the verge beyond which it would 
be worthless ; yet the tone of Mr. Davis's administration was as 
bold and defiant as ever 



5$ LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Emancipation Proclamation— Pres. Davis's Message on the subject— Vicks- 
burg— Gettysburg— Chickamauga— The Currency — Military Events of 
1864— Failure of Sherman's First Expedition- General Banks's Disaster— 
Spottsylvania, Wilderness— Georgia hesitates— Atlanta Falls. Re-election 
of Mr. Lincoln— Sherman's Second Campaign— Final Catastrophe— Par- 
ticulars of Davis's Flight from Ptichmond. 

The gloomy aspect of affairs in the Confederate States was height- 
ened by the new policy adopted by Mr. Lincoln for the future 
conduct of the war. On the 1st of January, 1863, was issued the 
famous Emancipation Proclamation, declaring the immediate 
enfranchisement of all slaves in the rebellious States, which was 
thus adverted to in Mr. Davis's Message of January, 1863 : — 

" The public journals of the North have been received, contain- 
ing a proclamation dated on the first day of the present month, 
signed by the President of the United States, in which he orders 
and declares -ftU slaves within ten of the States of the Confederacy 
to be free, except such as are found within certain districts 
now occupied in part by the armed forces of the enemy. We 
may well leave it to the instincts of that common humanity which 
II beneficent Creator has implanted in the breasts of our fellow 
men of all countries to pass judgment on a measure by which 
several millions of human beings of an inferior race — peaceful and 



LIFE OF JEFFEESON DAVIS. .§,9 

contented laborers in their sphere — are doomed to extermination, 
while at the same time they are encouraged to a general assassina- 
tion of their masters by the insidious recommendation * to abstain 
from violence unless in necessary self-defense.' Our own detesta- 
tion of those who have attempted the most execrable measm*e 
recorded in the history of guilty man, is temj^ered by profound 
contempt for the impotent rage which it discloses. So far as 
regards the action of this Government on such criminals as may 
attempt its execution, I confine myself to informing you that 
I shall — unless in your wisdom you deem some other course more 
expedient — dehver to the several State authorities all commis- 
sioned officers of the United States that may hereafter be captured 
by our forces in any of the States embraced in the proclamation, 
that they may be dealt with in accordance with the laws of those 
States providing for the punishment of criminals engaged in 
exciting servile insurrection. The enlisted soldiers I shall con- 
tinue to treat as unwilling instruments in the commission of these 
crimes, and shall direct their discharge and return to their homes 
on the proper and usual parole." 

The elation of the Confederates, caused by the splendid victory 
of Chancellorsville, was converted into gloom by the loss of one 
of their greatest generals — Stonewall Jackson : and the terrible 
reverses which soon followed entirely disheartened them. The 
news of the defeat at Gettysburg and the fall of Yicksburg was 
received at Richmond on the same day. Yicksburg was occu- 
pied on the 4th of July, and the fall of Port Hudson, which 
speedily followed, completed that series of operations which at last 



60 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

opened the navigation of the Mississippi, and completely severed 
the Confederacy in half. In the West, affairs were not much 
brighter, for, although the tide of reverses seemed to be turned 
by the battle of Chickamauga in September, yet, before the 
close of the year, the total defeat suffered by the Confederates 
in the battle of Missionary Ridge, again overspread the Confed- 
eracy with gloom. 

The distrust in its eventual success, excited by the disasters 
in the field, aggravated the already desperate condition of the 
currency, which, long before the termination of the year, repre- 
sented only one-twentieth part of its nominal value. The odium 
which a few months before deterred creditors from refusing it in 
payment of debts was fast subsiding, and the time was evidently 
approaching when it would be worthless for this purpose. The 
planters themselves, who were most interested in sustaining it, 
received it in purchase of grain with evident reluctance, and only 
under the temptation of the most exorbitant prices. 

Indeed, the- currency at the close of 1863 was despaired of in 
every quarter save one. The Administration still refused to ad- 
mit the possibility of its becoming utterly valueless, and continued 
to urge upon Congress fresh devices for its appreciation and res- 
toration to par value. In his message of December, 1863, Mr. 
Davis proposed to remedy the financial disorders by heavy taxa- 
tion, and by a system of compulsory funding. His scheme was 
adopted in its general features by the next Congress. A load 
of taxation was at once thrown upon the people, such as has 
never been known, even in the Old World ; while, in accordance 
with the recommendation of forced funding, holders of Treasury 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 61 

notes were required to invest them in Government securities 
during stated periods, under the penalty of repudiation. Tiie 
result of these vigorous, but obviously desperate measures, was, 
that whereas, just before their passage, gold commanded a pre- 
mium of twenty to one, in a few weeks after brokers refused 
even thirty dollars in Treasury notes for one in specie. 

The military events of the year 1864 were, up to the 1st of 
September, on the whole greatly favorable to the Confederates. 
The failure of General Sherman's expedition into Mississippi, the 
disastrous Louisiana campaign of General Banks, the severe 
Eederal reverses in Florida, and the repeated and bloody repulse 
of General Grant at Spottsylvania, the Wilderness, and before 
Petersburg, infused new hopes and renewed vigor into the Con- 
federate cause. Strong indications of a disposition to make 
separate terms with the United States had been manifested in 
Georgia, insomuch that Mr Davis deemed his personal interpo- 
sition necessary to prevent the defection of that State. Whether 
his eloquent and fervid appeals alone would have sufficed to re- 
tain Georgia in the Confederacy under less favorable auspices 
than those which now for a moment cheered the drooping-* spirits 
of the Southrons, is doubtful. But, in addition to the encour- 
agement derived from the repeated repulses of the Federal troops 
in Virginia, a peace party was rapidly growing up in the North- 
ern States, and in exact proportion to its increase was the wane 
of the corresponding sentiment South. The horrible and seem- 
ingly fruitless carnage attending the recent operations of the 
Army of the Potomac, iu connection with the other Federal 
reverses just reverted to, had revived the hopes of the Democratic 



63 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

party North, and encouraged them to attempt the defeat of Mr. 
Lincoln in the coming Presidential election. General McClellan 
was accordingly nominated on the 29th of August as the oppos- 
ing candidate, and entered upon the campaign with fair pros- 
pects of success. In just three days after his nomination, Atlanta 
was occupied by General Sherman, and his hopes were nipped 
in the bud.. 

Mr. Lincoln was re-elected on the 8th of November. On the 
16th, General Sherman commenced the memorable campaign 
which was soon to change the whole aspect of the war. 

From the commencement of the march through Georgia, a 
steady train of reverses befell the fast declining cause of the Con- 
federacy, which was unrelieved by a single favorable event. The 
capture of Savannah speedily followed the fall of Atlanta, and 
the serious defeats at Winchester, and the repulse of Hood at 
Franklin, intervened. Then came the loss of Fort Morgan, at 
Mobile, the capitulation of Wilmington, while the seizure of 
Branchville and Columhia, South Carolina, led to the abandon- 
ment of Charleston. This event was soon succeeded by the last 
battles before Richmond, the retreat of the Southerners, and 
finally, on the 9 th of April, 1865, the surrender of General Lee 
and his whole forces. 

The fall of the Confederacy was so sudden and complete as to 
take every one by surprise, except perhaps the Confederate 
leaders themselves. Mr. Davis had made desperate efforts in 
the latter part of 1864 to infuse some of his own indomitable 
fortitude into the people, and hurrying through the chief cities 
left to the narrowing limits of the Confederacy, made stirring 



LIFE OF JEFFEKSON DAVIS, 63 

appeals to the bravery and patriotism of their inhabitants. 
Even his iron firmness showed symptoms of sinking under the 
events which followed his return to Richmond. His message to 
the Congress of 1864-65 lacked the tone of self-possession and 
unwavering confidence which had hitherto characterized his com- 
munications to that body. Speaking of General Sherman's 
campaign and the concurrent disasters in other quarters, he 
said : — " Recent military operations of the enemy have been 
successful in the capture of some of our seaports, in interrupting 
some of our lines of communication, and in devastating large 
districts of our country. . . . The capital of the Confederate 
States is now threatened and is in greater danger than it has 
heretofore been during the war." He also indicated unmistak- 
ably his opinion of the serious nature of the crisis by urging the 
employment of negro soldiers. 

Foreseeing, as Mr. Davis evidently must have done, the pos- 
sibility if not probability of the early fall of Richmond, it is 
somewhat singular that he should not sooner have taken measures 
for the removal of the State archives from that city. It was 
not, however, till the memorable 2nd of April that he decided 
to leave Richmond. The departure of Mr. Davis was coeval 
with the fall of the Confederacy. The events that followed his 
departure are drawn from Mr. Davis's own account as related in 
Dr. Craven's book, to which previous reference has been made. 

" On leaving Richmond he went first to Danville, because it 
was intended that Lee should have moved in that direction, fall- 
ing back to make a junction with Johnson's force in the direction 
of Roanoke River. Grant, however, pressed forward so rapidly, 



64 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

and swung so far around, that Lee was obliged to retreat in the 
direction of Lynchburgh with his main force, while his vanguard, 
which arrived at Danville, insisted on falling back and making 
the rallyingpoint at Charlotte in North Carolina. 

" In Danville Mr. Davis learned of Lee's surrender. Imme- 
diately started for Goldsboro', where he met and had a consulta- 
tion with Gen. Johnson, thence going on South. At Lexington 
he received a dispatch from Johnson requesting that tiie Secretary 
of War (Gen. Breckinridge) should repair to his headquarters 
near Raleigh — Gen. Sherman having submitted a proposition 
for laying down arms which was too comprehensive in its scope 
for any mere military commander to decide upon. Breckinridge 
and Postmaster-General Reagan immediately started for Johnson's 
camp, where Sherman submitted the terms of surrender on which 
an armistice was declared — the same terms subsequently disap- 
proved by the authorities at "Washington. 

" One of the features of the proposition submitted by Gen. Sher- 
man was a declaration of amnesty to all persons, both civil and 
military. Notice being called to the fact particularly, Sherman 
said, ' I mean just that ;' and gave as his reason that it was the only 
way to have perfect peace. He had previously offered to furnish 
a vessel to take away any such persons as Mr. Davis might select, 
to be freighted with whatever personal property they might 
want to take with them, and to go wherever it pleased. 

" Gen. Johnson told Sherman that it was worse tlian useless 
to carry such a proposition as the last to him. Breckinridge 
also informed Gen. Sherman that his proposition contemplated 
the adjustment of certain matters which even Mr, Davis was not 



LIFE OP JEFFEESON DAVIS. 65 

empowered to control. The terms were accepted, however, with 
the understanding that they should be liberally construed on 
both sides, and fulfilled in good faith — General Breckinridge 
adding that certain parts of the terms would require to be sub- 
mitted to the various State governments of the Confederacy for 
ratification. 

"These terms of agreement between Johnson and Sherman 
were subsequently disapproved by the authorities at Washington, 
and the armistice ordered to cease after a certain time. Mr. 
Davis waited in Charlotte until the day and hour when the armis- 
tice ended ; then mounted his horse, and, with some cavalry of 
Duke's brigade (formerly Morgan's), again started southward, 
passing through South Carolina to Washington, in Georgia. At 
an encampment on the road, he thinks, the cavalry of his escort 
probably heard of the final surrender of General Johnson, though 
he himself did not until much later. Being in the advance, he 
rode on, supposing that the escort was coming after. 

*' As with his party he approached the town of Washington, 
he was informed that a regiment, supposed to belong to the 
army of General Thomas, was moving on the place to capture it, 
in violation, as he thought, of General Sherman's terms. On this 
he sent back word to the General commanding the cavalry escort ^ 
to move up and cover the town — an order which probably never 
reached its destination — at least the cavalry never came ; nor 
did he see them again, nor any of them. Thinking they were 
coming, however, and not apprehending any molestation from 
the Federal troops, even if occupying the same town, he entered 
Washington, and remained there over night — no troops of the 



66 LIFE OF JEFFEESON DAVIS. 

United States appearing. Here be heard of his wife and family, 
not having seen thera since they had left Richmond, more* than a 
mouth before his own departure. They had just left the town 
before his arrival, moving South in company with his private 
secretary, Colonel Harrison, of whose fidelity he spoke in warm 
terms, and accompanied by a small party of paroled men, who, 
seeing them unprotected, had volunteered to be their escort to 
Florida, from whence the family, not Mr. Davis himself, intended 
to take ship to Cuba. 

Mr. Davis regarded the section of country he was now in as 
covered by Sherman's armistice, and had no thought that any ex- 
pedition could or would be sent for his own capture, or for any 
other warlike purposes. He believed the terms of Johnson's 
capitulation still in force over all the country east of the Chatta- 
hoochie, which had been embraced in Johnson's immediate com- 
mand ; citing as an evidence of this, that while he was in Wash- 
ington, General Upton, of the Federal service, with a few mem- 
bers of his staff, passed unattended over the railroad, a few miles 
from the place, en route for Augusta, to receive the muster-rolls of 
the discharged troops, and take charge of the immense military 
stores there that fell into General Sherman's hands by the sur- 
render. General Upton was not interfered with, the country being 
considered at peace, though nothing could have been easier tlian 
his capture, had Mr. Davis been so inclined. 

" At this very time, however, a division of cavalry had been 
sent into this district, which had been declared at peace and pro- 
mised exemption from the dangers and burdens of any further 
military operations within its limits, for the purpose of capturing 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 67 

himself and party; and this he could not but regard as a breach 
of faith ou the part of those who directed or permitted it to be 
done, though he did not wish to place himself in the condition of 
one who had accepted the terms of Johnson's capitulation, or 
taken advantage of the amnesty which Sherman had offered. 
But the district in which he then found himself had been promised 
exemption from further incursions, and he did not think himself 
justly liable to capture while within its limits — though he expected 
to have to take the chances of arrest when once across the 
Chattahoochie. 

"Hearing that a skirmish-line, or patrol, had been extended 
across the country from Macon to Atlanta, and thence to Chat- 
tanooga, he thought best to go below this Hue, hoping to join the 
forces of his relative, Lieutenant-General Dick Taylor, after 
crossing the Chattahoochie. He would then cross the Mississippi, 
joining Taylor's forces to those of Kirby Smith — of whom ho 
spoke with marked acerbity — and would have continued the fight 
so long as he could find any Confederate force to strike with him. 
This, not in any hope of final success, but to secure for the South 
some better terms than surrender at discretion. ' To this com- 
plexion,' said Mr. Davis, ' had the repudiation of General Sher- 
man's terms, and the surrenders of Lee and Johnson, brought the 
Southern cause.' 

'* Mr. Davis left Washington accompanied by Postmaster-Gene- 
ral Reagan, three aides, and an escort of ten mounted men with 
one pack-mule. Riding along, they heard distressing reports of 
bands of marauders going about the country stealing horses and 
whatever else might tempt their cupidity — these rumors finally 



68 LITE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

maturing into information which caused him to change his course 
and follow on to overtake the train containing his wife and family, 
for whose safety he began to feel apprehensions. 

" This object he achieved after riding seventy miles, without 
halt, in a single day, joining Mrs. Davis just at daylight, and in 
time to prevent a party he had passed on the road from stealing 
her two fine carriage-horses, which formed a particular attraction 
for their greed. ' I have heard,' he added, ' since my imprison- 
ment, that it was supposed there was a large amount of specie in 
the train. Such was not the fact, Mrs. Davis carrying with her 
no money that was not personal property, and but very Uttle of 
that.' 

" Having joined his family, he travelled with them for several 
days, in consequence of finding the region infested with deserters 
and robbers engaged in plundering whatever was defenseless, his 
intention being to quit his wife whenever she had reached a safe 
portion of the country, and to bear west across the Chattahoochie. 
The very evening before his arrest he was to have carried out this 
arrangement, believing Mrs. Davis to be now safe ; but was pre- 
vented by a report brought in through one of his aides, that a 
party of guerillas, or highwaymen, was coming that night to seize 
the horses and mules of his wife's train. It was on this report he 
decided to remain another night. 

" Towards morning, he had just fallen into the deep sleep of 
exhaustion, when his wife's faithful negro servant, Robert, came 
to him, announcing that there was firing up the road. lie started 
up, dressed himself and went out. It was just at grey dawn, and 
by the imperfect light he saw a party approaching the camp. 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. Ci^ 

They were recognized as Federal cavalry, by the way in which 
they deployed to surround the train, and he stepped back into the 
tent, to warn his wife that the enemy were at hand. 

''Their tent was prominent, being isolated from the other tents 
of the trains ; and as he was quitting it to find his horse, several 
of the cavalry rode up, directing him to halt and surrender. To 
this he gave a defiant answer. Then one whom he supposed to 
be an oflicer asked, had he any arms, to v/hich Mr. Davis replied : 
'If I had, you would not be alive to ask that question.' His pis- 
tols had been left in the holsters, as it had been his intention, the 
evening before, to start whenever the camp was settled ; but 
horse, saddle and holsters were now in the enemy's possession, and 
he was completely unarmed. 

" Colonel Pritchard, commanding the Federal cavalry, came up 
soon, to whom Mr. Davis said : ' I suppose, sir, your orders are 
accomplished in arresting me. You can have no wish to interfere 
with women and children ; and I beg they may be permitted to 
pursue their journey.' The Colonel replied, that his orders were 
to take every one found in my company back to Macon, and he 
would have to do so, though grieved to inconvenience the ladies. 
Mr. Davis said his wife's party was composed of paroled men, 
who had committed no act of war since their release, and begged 
they might be permitted to go to their homes ; but the Colonel, 
under his orders, did not feel at liberty to grant this request. 
They were all taken to Macon, therefore, reaching it in four days, 
and from thence were carried by rail to Augusta — Mr. Davis 
thanking Major-General J. H. Wilson for having treated him 
with all the courtesy possible to the situation. 



70 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

" The party transferred to Augusta consisted of Reagan, Alex- 
ander H. Stevens, Clement C. Clay, two of his own aides and 
private secretary, Mrs. Clay, his wife and four children, four ser- 
vants and three paroled men, who had generously offered their 
protection to Mrs. Davis during her journey. Breckinridge had 
been with the cavalry brigade, which had been the escort of Mr. 
Davis, and did not come up at Washington. He and Secretary 
Benjamin had started for Florida, expecting to escape thence to 
the West Indies. There was no specie nor public treasure in the 
train — nothing but his private funds, and of them very Httle. 
Some wagons had been furnished by the Quartermaster at Wash- 
ington, Georgia, for the transportation of his family and the par- 
oled men who formed their escort, and that was the only train. 
Mr. Davis had not seen his family for some months before, and 
first rejoined them when he rode to their defense from Wash- 
ington." 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 71 



CHAPTER YIII. 

Mr. Davis at Fortress Monroe— Outrages upon the ex-President— Account of 
his being Shackled. 

It was on the 19th clay of May, 1865, that the propeller William 
P. Clyde dropped anchor in Hampton Roads, haying on board as 
prisoners, Jefiferson Davis, late President of the late Confederacy, 
and his family ; Alexander H. Stephens, Tiee-President ; John 
H. Reagan, late Postmaster-General ; Clement C. Clay, and 
several more State prisoners belonging to the Confederacy. 

Preparations had been going on in Fortress Monroe for some 
days for the reception of the distinguished prisoners. On the 
morning of the 21st of May, Mr. Stephens, Mr. Reagan, and 
others of the prisoners, were removed to the gunboat Maumee, 
which then steamed for Fort Warren, in Boston harbor, and on 
the afternoon of the same day, the arrangements being completed, 
Messrs. Davis and Clay were removed to their quarters in Fortress 
Monroe. 

The parting between Mr. Davis and his wife, four children, and 
the other members of his family and household who were on 
board the Clpde^ was extremely affecting — the ladies sobbing 
passionately as the two prisoners, Messrs. Clay and Davis, were 
handed over the ship's side and into the boat, which was in 
waitmg for them. 



7^ LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

" The procession into the fort," says Dr. Craven, " was simple 
though momentous, and was under the immediate inspection of 
Major-General Halleck and the Hon. Cliarles A. Dana, then 
Assistant Secretary of War ; Colonel Pritchard, of the Michigan 
cavalry, who immediately effected the capture, being the oti&cer m 
command of the guard from the vessel to the fort. First came 
Major-General Miles, holding the arm of Mr. Davis, who was 
dressed in a suit of plain Confederate grey, with a grey slouched 
hat — always thin, and now looking much wasted and very hag- 
gard. Immediately after these came Colonel Pritchard, accom- 
panying Mr. Clay, with a guard of soldiers in their rear. Thus 
they passed through files of men in bhie from the Engineer's Land- 
ing to the Water Battery Postern ; and on arriving at the case- 
mate which had been fitted up into cells for their incarceration, 
Mr. Davis was shown into casemate No. 2, and Clay into No. 4, 
guards of soldiers being stationed in the cells numbered 1, 3, and 
5, upon each side of them. They entered ; the heavy doors 
clanged behind them, and in that clang was rung the final knell 
of the terrible, but now extinct, rebelUon. Here, indeed, is a fall, 
my countrymen. Another and most striking illustration of the 
mutability of human greatness. 

" Being ushered into his inner cell by General Miles, and the 
two doors leading thereinto from the guard-room being fastened, 
Mr. Davis, after surveying the premises for some moments, and 
looking out through the embrasure with such thoughts passing 
over his lined and expressive face as may be imagined, suddenly 
seated himself in a chair, placing both hands on his knees, and 
asked one of the soldiers pacmg up and down within his cell, 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 73 

this significant question : * Which way does the embrasure 
face V 

" The soldier was silent. 

'* Mr. Davis, raising his voice a little, repeated the inquiry. 

'' But again dead silence, or only the measured footfalls of the 
two pacing sentries within, and the fainter echoes of the four 
without. 

" Addressing the other soldier, as if the first had been deaf and 
had not heard him, the prisoner again repeated his inquiry 

" But the second soldier remained silent as the first, a slight 
twitching of his eyes only intimating that he had heard the 
question, but was forbidden to speak. 

" ' Well,' said Mr. Davis, throwing his hands up, and breaking 
into a bitter laugh, ' I wish my men could have been taught your 
discipline I' and then, rising from his chair, he commenced pacing 
back and forth before the embrasm-e, now looking at the silent 
sentry across the moat, and anon at the two silently pacing 
soldiers who were his companions in the casemate. 

" What caused his bitter laugh — for even in his best days his 
temper was of the saturnine and atrabilious type, seldom capable 
of being moved beyond a smile ? Was he thinking of those days 
under President Pierce, in which on his approach the cannon of 
the fortress thundered their hoarse salute to the all-powerful 
Secretary of War — the fort's gates leaping open, its soldiers pre- 
senting arms, and the whole place under his command ? Or 
those later days under Mr. Buchanan, when, as the most power- 
ful member of the Military Committee of the Senate, sknilar 
honors were paid on his arrival at every national work ? 

4 



74 LIFE OF JEFFEI?SON DAVIS. 

" And was not his question significant — * Which way does this 
embrasure face V Was it north, south, east, or west ? In the 
hurry and agitation of being conducted in, he had lost his reckon- 
ing of the compass, though well-acquainted with the localities ; 
and his first question was in effect : ' Does my vision in its reach 
go southward to the empire I have lost, or North to the loyal 
enemies who have subdued my people V — for it is always as 
* his people ' that Mr. Davis refers to the Southern States. 

" His sole reading-matter, a Bible and prayer-book ; his only 
companions, those two silent guards ; and his only food, the ordi- 
nary rations of bread and beef served out to the soldiers of the 
garrison — thus passed the first day and night of the ex-President^s 
confinement." 

But on the morning of the 23d of May a bitter trial and humil- 
ation was in store for the proud spirit — a humiliation severer 
than has ever in modern times been inflicted upon one whose 
career has been so eminent. The particulars of the outrage of 
shackling the Confederate ex-president are recorded by Dr. Cra- 
ven in his interesting work on the " Prison-Life of Jefferson 
Davis," and cannot fail to excite the deepest indignation and 
shame in every reader who has the reputation and fairfame 
of his country at heart. There is no motive that can be assigned 
for the infamous act, but the bitter and infuriated malice of the 
Government — a motive that sought during tlie entire war to cast 
every obloquy upon the character of the great Southern Chief, 
that without evidence and in face of all probability accused him 
in the face of the world as an assassin and murderer, that hoped to 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 75 

overwhelm him in ridicule and humiliation by a trumped up story 
of his attempt to escape disguised as a woman, and which was 
sought to brand him with a felon's shame by degrading him with 
a felon's shackles. The outrage deserves the scorn and indig- 
nation of the world, and should stamp those who ordered, and 
those who consented to the act with everlasting infamy. Where 
was the honor and dignity of the officer-in-command who con- 
sented to descend from his high position to that of a common 
jailor ?. He should have resigned at once, rather than have ex- 
ecuted the order. Did the ofl&cers of our army possess that spirit 
and tliat sense of honor that traditionally belongs to the soldier 
and the ofi&cer, the Government would have found it impossible 
to have carried out theur design — the entire rank would have 
resigned rather than have disgraced their epaulettes by such a 
foul and dastardly piece of business. When Napoleon was car- 
ried to St. Helena, the English officer-in-command demanded his 
sword worn merely as an ornamental side-arm, and all Europe rang 
with the insult and outrage. Napoleon, indeed, refused to surrender 
it, and he was allowed to wear it, the English government, sensible 
of the indignity thus offered their illustrious prisoner, and of the 
feeling that the outrage excited in Europe, ordered the officer-in- 
command to withdraw his demand. How diflferent the conduct 
of our own government toward a prisoner scarcely less eminent 
than the great Corsican I How can we but feel that the act 
of our government is a blot upon our civilization, a stain and a 
shame upon our fair name, exhibiting us low in civilization, with- 
out dignity, and animated by petty animosities and spites 1 Here 
was a man who a few short weeks before was the acknowledged 



75 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

ruler of six millions of people ; with immense armies at his com- 
mand ; with Cabinet officers, embassadors, and a stafif of devoted 
adherents ; filling a foremost place in history, the world ringing 
with his deeds and in sympathy with his hopes ; he who has 
founded an empire, and maintained it through a war more for- 
midable than any of modern times — a man thus eminent and con- 
spicuous, cast into a dungeon and shackled like any common 
felon I There is indeed little in history to parallel it, and the 
indignity intended as a humiliation to Jefferson Davis, has re- 
acted and become our own burning shame. 

" It was," says Dr. Craven, " while all the swarming camps of 
the armies of the Potomac — over two hundred thousand bronzed 
and laureled veterans — were preparing for the Grand Review of 
the next morning, in which, passing in' endless succession before 
the mansion of the President, the conquering military power of 
the nation was to lay down its arms at the feet of the civil au- 
thority, that the following scene was enacted at Fort Monroe : 

" Captain Jerome E. Titlow, of the Third Pennsylvania Artil- 
lery, entered the prisoner's cell, followed by the blacksmith of the 
fort and his assistant, the latter carrying in his hands some heavy 
and harshly-rattling shackles. As they entered, Mr. Davis was 
reclining on his bed, feverish and weary after a sleepless night, the 
food placed near to him the preceding day still lying untouched on 
its tin plate near his bedside 

'* ' Well V said Mr. Davis, as they entered, slightly raising his 
head. 

" ' I have an unpleasant duty to perform, sh-,' said Captain Tit- 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 77 

low ; and, as he spoke, the senior blacksmith took the shackles 
from his assistant. 

*' Davis leaped instantly from his recumbent attitude, a flush 
passing over his face for a moment, and then his countenance grow- 
ing livid and rigid as death. 

"He gasped for breath, clutching his throat with the thin 
fingers of his right hand, and then recovering himself slowly, 
while his wasted figure towered up to its full height — now appear- 
ing to swell with indignation and then to shrink with terror, as he 
glanced from the captain's face to the shackles — he said slowly 
and with a laboring chest : 

" ' My God 1' You cannot have been sent to iron me ?" 

" * Such are my orders, sir,' replied the officer, beckoning the 
blacksmith to approach, who stepped forward, unlocking the pad- 
lock and preparing the fetters to do then* office. These fetters 
were of heavy iron, probably five-eighths of an inch in tliickness, 
and connected together by a chain of like weight. I believe they 
are now in the possession of Major-General Miles, and will form 
an interesting rehc. 

" ' This is too monstrous,' groaned the prisoner, glaring hur- 
riedly round the room, as if for some weapon or means of self- 
destruction. ' I demand, Captain, that you let me see the com- 
manding officer. Can he pretend that such shackles are required 
to secure the safe custody of a weak old man, so guarded, and in 
such a fort as this ?' 

"'It could serve no purpose,' replied Captain Titlow; 'his 
orders are from Washington, as mine are from him.' 

" • But he can telegraph,' interposed Mr. Davis eagerly ; * there 



HB LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

must be some mistake. No such outrage as you threaten me 
with, is on record in the history of nations. Beg him to tele- 
graph, and delay until he answers.' 

" ' My orders are peremptory,' said the officer, ' and admit of no 
delay. For your own sake, let me advise you to submit with 
patience. As a soldier, Mr. Davis, you know I must execute 
orders/ 

" ' These are not orders for a soldier,' shouted the prisoner, los- 
ing all control of himself. ' They are orders for a jailor — for a 
hangman, which no soldier wearing a sword should accept ! I 
tell you the world will ring with this disgrace. The war is over ; 
the South is conquered ; I have no longer any country but Ame- 
rica, and it is for the honor of America, as for my own honor and 
life, that I plead against this degradation. Kill me ! kill me !' 
he cried, passionately, throwing his arms wide open and exposing 
his breast, " rather than inflict on me, and on my people through 
me, this insult worse than death.' 

" 'Do your duty, blacksmith,' said the officer, walking towards 
the embrasure as if not caring to witness the performance. ' It 
only gives increased pain on all sides to protract this interview,' 

" At these words the blacksmith advanced with the shackles, 
and seeing that the prisoner had one foot upon the chair near his 
bedside, his right hand resting on the back of it, the brawny me- 
chanic made an attempt to slip one of the shackles over the ankle 
so raised ; but, as if with the vehemence and strength which 
frenzy can impart, even to the weakest invalid, Mr. Davis sud- 
denly seized his assailant and hurled him half-way across the 
room. 



LITE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 79 

" On this Captain Titlow turned, and seeing that Davis had 
backed against the wall for further resistance, began to remon- 
strate, pointing out in brief, clear language, that this course was 
madness, and that orders must be enforced at any cost. ' Why 
compel me,' he said, ' to add the further indignity of personal vio- 
lence to the necessity of your being ironed V 

" ' I am a prisoner of war,' fiercely retorted Davis ; * I have 
been a soldier in the armies of America, and know how to die. 
Only kill me, and my last breath shall be a blessing on your head. 
But while I have life and strength to resist, for myself and for my 
people, this tiling shall not be done.' 

" Hereupon Captain Titlow called in a sergeant and file of sol- 
diers from the next room, and the sergeant advanced to seize the 
prisoner. Immediately Mr. Davis flew on him, seized his musket 
and attempted to wrench it from his grasp. 

" Of course such a scene could have but one issue. There was 
a short, passionate scuffle. In a moment Davis was flung upon 
his bed, and before his four powerful assailants removed their 
hands from him, the blacksmith and his assistant had done their 
work — one securing the rivet on the right ankle, while the other 
turned the key in the padlock on the left. 

" This done, Mr. Davis lay for a moment as if in stupor. Then 
slowly raising himself and turning round, he dropped his shackled 
feet to the floor. The harsh clank of the striking chain seems 
first to have recalled him to his situation, and dropping his face 
into his hands, he burst into a passionate flood of sobbing, rock 
ing to and fro, and muttering at brief intervals : ' Oh I tho 
shame 1 the shame 1* 



80 LIFE OF JEFFERaON* DAVIS. 

" It may be here stated, though out of its due order — that we 
may get rid in haste of an unpleasant subject — that Mr. Davis 
some two months later, when frequent visits had made him more 
free of converse, gave me a curious explanation of the last feature 
in this incident. 

" He had been speaking of suicide, and denouncing it as the 
worst form of cowardice and folly. * Life is not like a commission 
that we can resign when disgusted with the service. Taking it by 
your own hand is a confession of judgment to all that your worst 
enemies can allege. It has often flashed across me as a tempting 
remedy for neuralgic torture ; but, thank God 1 I never sought 
my own death but once, and then when completely frenzied and not 
master of my actions. When they came to iron me that day, as 
a last resource of desperation, I seized a soldier's musket and 
attempted to wrench it from his grasp, hoping that in the scuffle 
and surprise, some one of his comrades would shoot or bayonet 
mel'" 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVI8. 81 



CHAPTER IX. 

Health of the Ex-president— His Cruel Treatment — Sovereignty of the States — 
Conversations with Dr. Craven — His Improved Treatment—Approaching 
Trial. ^ 

The health of Mr. Davis was now failing rapidly. Suflfering 
greatly from neuralgic disorders and other various affections, 
greatly reduced in system, without appetite, unable on account 
of his shackles to take exercise, supplied with coarse rations and 
refused even a knife and fork, without books, pen, paper or 
even a pencil, incessantly watched by two sentinels, who night 
and day passed his cell ; thus depriving him of even so poor a 
boon as solitude and silence, the health of the unfortunate prisoner 
failed rapidly, and would soon have succumbed entirely to the in- 
human treatment to which he was subjected, had not Dr. Craven 
actively interested himself in his behalf and procured the removal 
of the shackles, and some changes in his rations. But still the 
prisoner was a great sufferer ; his nights were sleepless ; he was 
without appetite ; the incessant pacing, night and day, of his 
ever-present guards, acted acutely upon his nervous system and 
tormented him almost into insanity. 

Keferring once to the severity of his treatment, Mr. Davis said 
to Dr. Craven : " Humanity supposes every man innocent until 
the reverse shall be proven ; and the laws guarantee certain 

4* 



ba LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

privileges to persons held for trial. To hold me here for trial, 
under all the rigors of a condemned convict, is not warranted by 
law — is revolting to the spirit of justice. In the political history 
of the world, there is no parallel to my treatment.. England 
and the despotic governments of Europe have beheaded men 
accused of treason ; but even after their conviction no such 
efforts as in my case have been made to degrade them. Apart, 
however, from my personal treatment, let us see how this matter 
stands : 

" If the real purpose in the matter be to test the question of 
secession by trying certain persons connected therewith for trea- 
son, from what class or classes should the persons so selected be 
drawn ? 

" From those who called the State Conventions, or from those 
who, in their respective conventions, passed the ordinance of 
secession ? Or, from the authors of the doctrine of State rights ? 
Or, from those citizens who, being absent from their States, 
were unconnected with the event, but on its occurrence returned 
to their homes to share the fortunes of their States as a duty of 
primal allegiance ? Or from those officers of the State, who 
being absent on public service, were called home by the ordi- 
nance, and returning joined their fellow-citizens in State service, 
and followed the course due to that relation ? 

" To the last class I belong, who am the object of greatest 
rigor. This can only be explained on the supposition that, hav- 
ing been most honored, I, therefore, excite most revengeful 
feelings — for how else can it be accounted for ? 
. " I did not wish for war, but peace ; therefore sent Commis- 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 83 

sioners to negotiate before war commenced ; and subsequently 
strove my uttermost to soften the rigoi*s of war ; in every pause 
of conflict seeking, if possible, to treat for peace. Numbers of 
those already practically pardoned are those who, at the begin- 
ning, urged that the black flag should be hoisted, and the 
struggle made one of desperation. 

" Believing the States to be each sovereign, and their union 
voluntary, I had learned from the Fathers of the Constitution 
that a State could change its form of government, abolishing all 
which had previously existed ; and my only crime has been obedi- 
ence to this conscientious conviction. Was not this the universal 
doctrine of the dominant Democratic party in the North previous 
to secession ? Did not many of the opponents of that party, in 
the same section, share and avow that faith ? They preached 
and professed to believe. We believed, and preached, and 
practised. 

" If this theory be now adjudged erroneous, the history of the 
States, from their colonial organization to the present moment, 
should be re-written, and the facts suppressed which may mislead 
others in a like manner to a like conclusion. 

But if — as I suppose — the purpose be to test the question of 
secession by a judicial decision, why begin by oppressing the 
chief subject of the experiment ? Why, in the name of fairness 
and a decent respect for the opinions of mankind, deprive him 
of the means needful to a preparation of his defense ; and load 
liini with indignities which must deprive his mind of its due 
equilibrium ? It ill comports with the dignity of a great nation 
to evince fear of giving to a single captive enemy all the 



84r LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVI3. 

advantages possible for an exposition of his side of the question. 
A question settled by violence, or in disregard of law, must 
remain unsettled for ever. 

" Believing all good government to rest on truth, it is the re- 
sulting belief that injustice to any individual is a public injury, 
which can only find compensation in the reaction which brings re- 
tributive justice upon the oppressors. It has been the continually 
growing danger of the North, that in attempting to crush the 
liberties of my people, you would raise a Frankenstein of tyranny 
that would not down at your bidding. Sydney, and Russell, and 
Yane, and Peters, suffered ; but in their death Liberty received 
blessings their lives might never have conferred. 

" If the doctrine of State Sovereignty be a dangerous heresy, 
the genius of America would indicate another remedy than the 
sacrifice of one of its believers. Wickliffe died, but Huss took 
up his teachings ; and when the dust of this martyr was sprinkled 
on the Rhine, some essence of it was mfused in the cup which 
Luther drank. 

" The road to grants of power is known and open ; and thus 
all questions of reserved rights on which men of highest distinc- 
tion may differ, and have differed, can be settled by fair adjudica- 
tion ; and thus only can they be finally set at rest. 

At another time, Mr. Davis remarked that it was " con- 
trary to reason, and the law of nations, to treat as a re- 
bellion, or lawless riot, a movement which had been the deliberate 
action of an entire people through their duly organized State 
governments. To talk of treason in the case of the South, was 
to oppose an arbitrary epithet against the authority of all writers 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 85 

on international law. Yattel deduces from his study of all former 
precedent — and all subsequent international jurists have agreed 
with him — that when a nation separates into two parts, each 
claiming independence, and both, or either, setting up a new gov- 
ernment, their quarrel, should it come to trial by arms or by dip- 
lomacy, shall be regarded and settled precisely as though it were 
a difference between two separate nations, which the divided sec- 
tions, de facto, have become. Each must observe the laws of war 
in the treatment of captives taken in battle, and such negotiations 
as may from time to time arise shall be conducted as between in- 
dependent and sovereign powers. Mere riots, or conspiracies for 
lawless objects, in wliich only limited fractions of a people are 
irregularly engaged, may be properly treated as treason, and pun- 
ished as the public good may require ; but Edmund Burke had 
exhausted argument on the subject in his memorable phrase, ap- 
plied to the first American movement for independence : ' I know 
not how an indictment against a whole people shall be framed.' 

"But for Mr. Lincoln's untimely death, Mr. Davis thought 
there could have been no question raised upon the subject. That 
event — more a calamity to the South than North, in the time and 
manner of its transpiring — had inflamed popular passions to the 
highest pitch, and made the people of the section which had lost 
their chief now seek as an equivalent the life of the chief of the ' 
section conquered. This was an impulse of passion, not a conclu- 
sion which judgment or justice could support. Mr. lincoln, 
through his entire administration, had acknowledged the South as 
a beUigerent nationality, exchanging prisoners of war, establishing 
truces, and sometimes sending, sometimes receiving, propositions 



86 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVI8. 

for peace. On the last of these occasions, accompanied by the 
chief member of his cabinet, he had personally met the Commis- 
sioners appointed by the Southern States to negotiate, going half- 
way to meet them not far from where Mr. Davis now stood ; and 
the negotiations of Gen. Grant with Gen. Lee, just preceding the 
latter's surrender, most distinctly and clearly pointed to the pro- 
mise of a general amnesty ; Gen. Grant, in his final letter, ex- 
pressing the hope that, with Lee's surrender, * all difiBculties be- 
tween the sections might be settled without the loss of another life,^ 
or words to that effect." 

Following Dr. Craven, we find that the health of Mr. Davis 
grew sensibly worse. Step by step, the kind-hearted physician ob- 
tained an amelioration of the condition of the eminent prisoner ; 
but the severity of the treatment he had experienced in the early 
part of his confinement, still told greatly on his health — and it 
can readily be appreciated how any confinement to a man in his 
physical and mental condition, must have resulted unfavorably to 
his health. Proceeding to follow Dr. Craven, we extract passages 
from several interesting conversations had with the prisoner ; and 
we also quote from the worthy Doctor's diary, a few references to 
the physical condition and suflfering of his illustrious patient : 

" June Sth. — Was called to the prisoner, whom I had not seen 
for a week. Found Mr. Davis relapsing, and very despondent. 
Complained again of intolerable pains in his head. Was distracted 
night and day by the unceasing tread of the two sentinels in his 
room, and the murmur or gabble of the guards in the outside cell. 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 87 

He said his casemate was well-formed for a torture-room of the 
inquisition. Its arched roof made it a perfect whispering gallery, 
in which all sounds were jumbled and repeated. The torment of 
his head was so dreadful, he feared he must lose his mind. 
Already his memory, vision, and hearing, were impaired. He had 
but the remains of one eye left, and the glaring, whitewashed 
walls were rapidly destroying this. He pointed to a crevice in 
the wall where his bed had been, explaining that he had changed 
to the other side, to avoid its mephitic vapors. 

" Of the trial he had been led to expect, had heard nothing. 
This looked as if the indictment were to be suppressed, and the 
action of a Mihtary Commission substituted. If so, they might 
do with him as they pleased, for he would not plead, but leave his 
cause to the justice of the future. As to takmg his life, that 
would be the greatest boon they could confer on him, though 
for the sake of his family, he might regret the manner of its 
taking." 

" Mr. Davis remarked that when his tray of breakfast had been 
brought in that morning, he overheard some soldiers in the guard- 
room outside commenting on the food given our prisoners during 
the late war. To hold him responsible for this was worse than 
absurd — criminally false. For the last two years of the war, Lee's * 
army had never more than half, and was oftener on quarter 
rations of rusty bacon and corn. It was yet worse with other 
Southern armies when operating in a country which had been 
campaigned over any time. Sherman, with a front of thirty or 
forty miles, breaking into a new country, found no trouble in pro- 



88 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

curing food ; but had he halted anywhere, even for a single week, 
must have starved. Marching every day, his men ate out a new 
section, and left behind them a starving wilderness. 

" Colonel Northrop, his Commissary-General, had many difficul- 
ties to contend with ; and, not least, the incessant hostility of cer- 
tain opponents of his administration, who, by striking at Northrop, 

really meant to strike at him. Even General , otherwise so 

moderate and conservative, was finally induced to join this 
injurious clamor. There was food in the Confederacy, but no 
means for its collection, the holders hiding it after the currency 
had become depreciated ; and, if collected, then came the difficulty 
of its transportation. Their railroads were over-taxed, and the 
rolling-stock soon gave out. They could not feed their own 
troops ; and prisoners of war in all countries and ages have had 
cause of complaint. Some of his people confined in the West and 
at Lookout Point, had been nearly starved at certain times, 
though he well knew, or well believed, full prison-rations had been 
ordered and paid for in these cases. 

" Herd men together in idleness within an inclosure, their arms 
taken from them, their organization lost, without employment for 
their time, and you will find it difficult to keep them in good 
health. They were ordered to receive precisely the same rations 
given to the troops guarding them ; but dishonest Commissaries 
and Provost-Marshals were not confined to any people. Doubt- 
less the prisonc/s on both sides often suffered, that the officers 
having charge of them might grow rich ; but wherever such dis- 
honesty could be brought home, prompt punishment followed. 
General Winder and Colonel Northrop did the best they could, he 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 89 

believed ; but both were poorly obeyed or seconded by their sub- 
ordinates. To hold him responsible for such unauthorized priva- 
tions, was both cruel and absurd. He issued order after order on 
the subject, and, conscious of the extreme difficulty of feeding the 
prisoners, made the most liberal offers for exchange — almost willing 
to accept any terms that would release his people from their 
burden. Non-exchange, however, was the policy adopted by the 
Federal Government — ^just as Austria, in her late campaigns 
against Frederick the Great, refused to exchange ; her calculation 
being, that as her population was five times more numerous than 
Prussia's, the refusal to exchange would be a wise measure. That 
it may have been prudent, though inhuman, situated as the South 
was, he was not prepared to deny ; but protested against being 
held responsible for evils which no power of his could avert, 
and to escape from which almost any concessions had been 
offered." 

" Sunday, July Wth. — Was sent for by Mr. Davis. Found 
prisoner very desponding, the failure of his sight troubling him, 
and his nights almost without sleep. His present treatment was 
killing him by inches, and he wished shorter work could be made 
of his torment. He had hoped long since for a trial, which 
should be public, and therefore with some semblance of fairness ; 
but hope deferred was making his heart sick. The odious, malig- 
nant and absurd insinuation that he was connected in some man- 
ner with the great crime and folly of Mr. Lincoln's assassination, 
was his chief personal motive for so earnestly desiring an early 
opportunity of vindication. But apart from this, as he was 



90 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

evidently made the representative in whose person the action 
of the seceding States was to be argued and decided, he yet more 
strongly desired for this reason to be heard in behalf of the 
defeated, but to him still sacred cause. The defeat he accepted, 
as a man has to accept all necessities of accomplished fact ; but 
to vindicate the theory and justice of his cause, showing by the 
authority of the Constitution and the Fathers of the Country, that 
his people had only asserted a right — had committed no crime — 
this was the last remaining labor which hfe could impose on him 
as a public duty/' 

" Of Stonewall Jackson, Mr, Davis s^wke with the utmost 
tenderness, and some touch of reverential feeling, bearing witness 
to his earnest and pathetic piety, his singleness of aim, his 
immense energy as an executive officer, and the loyalty of his 
nature, making obedience the first of all duties. ' He rose every 
morning at three,' said Mr. Davis ; ' performed his devotions for 
half an hour, and then went booming along at the head of his 
command, which came to be called "Jackson's foot cavalry," from 
the velocity of their movements. He had the faculty, or rather 
gift, of exciting and holding the love and confidence of his men to 
an unbounded degree, even though the character ot his campaign- 
ing imposed on them more hardships than on any other troops in 
the service. Good soldiers care not for their individual sacrifices 
when adequate results can be shown ; and these General Jackson 
never lacked. Hard fighting, hard marching, hard fare, the 
strictest discipline — all these men will bear, if visibly approaching 
the gaol of their hopes. They want to get done with the war, 



LIFE or JEFFERSON DAVIS. 91 

back to their homes and families ; and their instinct soon teaches 
them which commander is pursuing the right means to accomplish 
these results. Jackson was a singularly ungainly man on horse- 
back, and had many peculiarities of temper, amounting to violent 
idiosyncrasies ; but everything in his nature, though here and 
there uncouth, was noble. Even in the heat of action, and when 
most exposed, he might be seen throwing up his hands in prayer. 
For glory he lived long enough,' continued Mr. Davis, with much 
emotion ; ' and if this result had to come, it was the Divine mercy 
that removed him. He fell like the eagle, his own feather on the 
shaft that was dripping with his life-blood. In his death the 
Confederacy lost an eye and arm, our only consolation being that 
the final summons could have reached no soldier more prepared to 
accept it joyfully. Jackson was not of a sanguine turn, always 
privately anticipating the worst, that the better might be more 
welcome.' " 

" Mr. Davis expressed some anxiety as to his present illness. 
He was not one of those who, when in trouble, wished to die. 
Great invalids seldom had this wish, save when protracted suffer- 
ings had weakened the brain. Suicides were commonly of the 
robuster class — men who had never been brought close to death 
nor thought much about it seriously. A good old Bishop once 
remarked, that 'dying was the last thing a man should think 
about,' and the mixture of wisdom and quaint humor in the phrase 
had impressed Mr. Davis. Even to Christians^ with the hope of 
an immortal future for the soul, the idea of physical annihilation — 
of parting forever from the tenement of flesh in which we have 



9^ LIFE OP JEFFEKSON dAvI3. 

had so many joys and sorrows — was one full of awe, if not terror. 
What it must be to the unbeliever, who entertained absolute and 
total annihilation as his prospect, he could not conceive. Never 
again to hear of wife or children — to take the great leap 
into black vacuity, with no hope of meeting in a brighter and 
happier life the loved ones left behind, the loved ones gone 
before ! 

" He had more reasons than other men, and now more than 
ever, to wish for some prolongation of life, as also to welcome 
death. His intolerable sufferings and wretched state argued for 
the grave as a place of rest. His duties to the cause he had 
represented, and his family, made him long to be continued on the 
footstool, in whatever pain or misery, at least until by the ordeal 
of a trial he could convince the world he was not the monster his 
enemies would make him appear, and that no willful departures 
from the humanities of war had stained the escutcheon of his 
people. Errors, like all other men, he had committed ; but 
stretched now on a bed from which he might never rise, and look- 
ing with the eyes of faith which no walls could bar, up to the 
throne of Divine mercy, it was his comfort that no such crimes as 
men laid to his charge reproached him in the whispers of his con- 
science. 

" * They charge me with crime. Doctor, but God knows my inno- 
cence. I indorse no measure that was not justified by the laws of 
war. Failure is all forms of guilt in one to men who occupied my 
position. Should I die, repeat this for the sake of my people, my 
dear wife, and poor darling children. Tell the world I only loved 
America, and that in following my State I was only carrying out 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 93 

doctrines received from reverenced lips in my early youth, and 
adopted by my judgment as the convictions of riper years.' " 

" Had General Albert Sidney Johnston lived, Mr. Davis was 
of opinion, our success down the Mississippi would have beeu 
fatally checked at Corinth. This ofBcer best realized his ideal of 
a perfect commander — large in view, discreet in council, silent as 
to his own plans, observant and penetrative of the enemy's, sudden 
and impetuous in action, but of a nerve and balance of judgment 
which no heat of danger or complexity of manoeuvre could upset 
or bewilder. All that Napolean said of Dessaix and Kleber, save 
the slovenly habits of one of them, might be combined and truth- 
fully said of Albert Sidney Johnston. Johnston had been opposed 
to locating the Confederate Capital at Richmond, alleging that it 
would involve fighting on the exterior of our circle, in lieu of the 
centre : and that as the struggle would finally be for whatever 
point was the capital, it was ill-advised to go so far north, thus 
shortening the enemy's line of transportation and supply. ' What- 
ever value this criticism may have had in a military point of view,' 
added Mr. Davis, * there were political necessities connected with 
Yirginia which left no choice in the matter. It was a bold court- 
ing of the issue, clearly planting our standard in front of the 
enemy's line and across his path. Such reflections are of no use 
now,' concluded Mr. Davis, * and the Spaniards tell us when a sor- 
row is asleep not to waken it.' 

" Recurring to the management of the negroes by professed 
philanthropic civilians of the North, Mr. Davis said that all the 
best men of both sections were in the armies, and that these 



^ LIFE OF JEFFERTON DAVIS. 

civilian camp-followers partook in their nature of the buzzards 
who were the camp-followers of the air. He said they reminded 
him of an anecdote told in Mississippi relative to a professed relig- 
ionist of very avaricious temper, which ran as follows : 

" Driving to church one Sunday, the pious old gentleman saw 
a sheep foundered in a quagmire on one side of the road, and 
called John, his coachman, to halt and extricate the animal — he 
might be of value. John halted, entered the quagmire, endeavor- 
ed to pull out the sheep ; but found that fright, cold, damp and 
exposure had so sickened the poor brute that its wool came out in 
fistfuls whenever pulled. With this dolorous news John returned 
to the carriage. 

" ' Indeed, John. Is it good wool — valuable ? ^ 

" * Fust class. Right smart good, Massa. Couldn't be better.' 

" * It's a pity to lose the wool, John. Yon'd better go see ; is 
it loose everywhere ? Perhaps his sickness only makes it loose in 
parts.' 

" John returned to the sheep, pulled all the wool, collected it in 
his arms, and returned to the carriage. 

" ' It he's all done gone off, Massa. Every hah* on hun was just 
a fallin' when I picked 'um up.' 

" ' Well, throw it in here, John,' replied the master, lifting up 
the curtain of his wagon. ' Throw it in here, and now drive to 
church as fast as you can ; I'm afraid we shall be late.' 



" ' But de poor sheep, massa,' pleaded the sable driver. ' Shan't 
dis chile go fotch him ?' 

" ' Oh, never mind him,' returned the philanthropist, measuring 
the wool with his eye. * Even if you dragged him out, he could 



liEFE OP JEFFERSON DAVIS. 95 

never recover, and his flesh would be good for nothing to the 
butchers.' 

" ' So the sheep, stripped of his only covering, was left to die in 
the swamp,' concluded Mr. Davis ; ' and such will be the fate of the 
poor negroes entrusted to the philanthropic but avaricious Phari- 
sees who now profess to hold them in special care.' " 

" September Qi/i. — Called upon Mr. Davis once or twice, I re- 
member, between the interval of my last date and this, but have 
lost notes. Called to-day, accompanied by Captain Titlow, Third 
Pennsylvania Artillery, officer-of-the-day, and found prisoner in a 
more comfortable state of mind and body than he had enjoyed for 
some days. Healthy granulations forming in the carbuncle. 

"Mr. Davis said the clamor about * treason ' in our Northern 
newspapers was only an evidence how little our editors were quali- 
fied by education for their positions. None seemed to remember 
that treason to a State was possible, no less than to the United 
States : and between the horns of this dilemma there could be 
little choice. In the North, where the doctrine of State sover- 
eignty was little preached or practised, this difficulty might not 
seem so great ; but in the South a man had presented the unplea- 
sant alternatives of being guilty of treason to his State when it 
went out of the Union, by remaining, what was called ' loyal' to 
the Federal Government, or being guilty of treason to the Gene- 
ral Government by remaining faithful to his State. These terms 
appeared to have little significance at the North, but were full of 
potency in the South, and had to be regarded in every political 
calculation." 



96 LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 

Dr. Craven's Record of the Prison-Life of Mr. Davis continues 
until November, 1865, when his earnest efforts in behalf of his 
prisoner, so far excited the ire of the powers that be, that he was 
at first forbidden to hold any intercourse with the prisoner, and 
afterwards removed entirely. 

But the treatment of Mr. Davis is now essentially changed. 
He has been removed to better quarters, is now supplied with 
adequate food, is allowed books, his family are permitted to see 
him, his friends have access to him ; and his position in all things 
is now more nearly worthy the dignity of a great country, and 
suitable to his rank as an eminent state prisoner, and not a con- 
victed felon. 

He and the country now await with interest his approaching 
trial. Thanks to the firmness of the President, the efforts of cer- 
tain of the Radicals to bring him to a mock trial before a Military 
Commission, in which the result would be only a foregone conclu- 
sion, has been thwarted, and he will undergo a constitutional trial 
before the highest tribunal in the country. It is feared, however, 
by some, that that trial will never come off, but by one pretext or 
another, will be postponed from time to time, until the prisoner, 
harassed by hope deferred, and carried into a fatal illness by his 
confinement, will die. A fair, searching, exhaustive trial, in which 
the doctrine of State sovereignty shall receive a ventilation and 
logical assertion it has never yet received, in which the hmitations 
and conditions of the Government, under the Constitution, shall 
be examined by an acumen and learning never yet brought to bear 
upon the subject, would be a trial, not of Jefferson Davis, but of 
the Republican party and its acts ; and this trial the leaders and 



LIFE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. 97 

controllers of that party dare not meet. They may feel some as- 
surance in the fact, that a conspicuous member of their party will 
preside at the trial ; but the doctrine of State sovereignty, if once 
authoritatively asserted by the Supreme Court, would extenuate, 
if it did not justify Secession, would render the present attitude 
of the party toward the Southern States untenable — would 
thwart and check their scheme for centralization — would estab- 
lish the unconstitutionality of many of their laws affecting the 
status of the citizens of the several States — would overthrow 
their whole theory of the Union, their platforms, their logic, and 
their ambitions, and re-assert the ancient Jeffersonian land-m^ks 
and principles. Will they dare stand this test ? They may, rely- 
ing on the partizan proclivities of the Chief-Justice ; but men who 
have studied the Constitution of the United States, and compre- 
hend its real significance and meaning, need fear to see that doc- 
trme of State sovereignty under which the seceding States acted, 
brought to the tribunals of the Court, need fear for a moment the 
triumphant issue of the attempt to try Jefferson Davis for 
treason. 



APPENBII. 



LETTER. 

Richmond, July Qth^ 1861. 
To Abraham Lincoln, President ^ and Commander-in-Chief of 
the Army and Navy of the United States : — 

Sir, — Having learned that the schooner Savannah, a private 
armed vessel in the service, and sailing under a commission issued 
by the authority of the Confederate States of America, had been 
captured by one of the vessels forming the blockading squadron 
off Charleston harbor, I directed a proposition to be made to the 
officer commanding that squadron, for an exchange of the officers 
and crew of the Savannah for prisoners of war held by this 
Government " according to number and rank." To this propo- 
sition, made on the 19th ult., Capt. Mercer, the officer-in-com- 
mand of the blockading squadron, made answer on the same day 
that " the prisoners (referred to) are not on board of any of the 
vessels under my command." 

It now appears by statements made without contradiction in 
newspapers published in New York, that the prisoners above-men- 
tioned were conveyed to that city, and have there been treated, 
not as prisoners of war, but as criminals ; tkat they have been put 



100 APPENDIX. 

in irons, confined in jail, brought before the Courts of Justice on 
charges of piracy and treason, and it is even rumored that they 
have been actually convicted of the offenses charged, for no other 
reason than that they bore arms in defense of the rights of this 
Government, and under the authority of its commission. 

I could not, without grave discourtesy, have made the news- 
paper statements above referred to the subject of this communica- 
tion, if the threat of treating as pirates the citizens of this Con- 
federacy, armed for service on the high seas, had not been 
contained in your proclamation of the — April last. That pro- 
clamation, however, seems to afford a sufficient justification for 
considering these published statements as not devoid of pro- 
bability. 

It is the desire of this Government so to conduct the war now 
existing, as to mitigate its horrors as far as may be possible ; and, 
with this intent, its treatment of the prisoners captured by its 
forces has been marked by the greatest humanity and leniency 
consistent with public obligation : some have been permitted to 
return home on parole, others to remain at large under similar 
condition within this Confederacy, and all have been furnished 
with rations for their subsistence, such as are allowed to -our own 
troops. It is only since the news has been received of the treat- 
ment of the prisoners taken on the Savannah, that I have been 
compelled to withdraw these indulgences, and to hold the prisoners 
taken by us in strict confinement. I 

A just regard to humanity and to the honor of this Government 
now requires me to state explicitly that, painful as will be the 
necessitv, this Government will deal out to the prisoners held by 



APPENDIX. 101 

it the same treatment and the same fate as shall be experienced 
by those captured on the Savannah, and if driven to the terrible 
necessity of retaliation by your execution of any of the officers or 
crew of the Savannah^ that retaliation will be extended so far as 
shall be requisite to secure the abandonment of a practice unknown 
to the warfare of civilized man ; and so barbarous as to disgrace 
the nation which shall be guilty of inaugurating it. 

With this view, and because it may not have reached you, I 
now renew the proposition made to the commander of the block- 
ading squadron, to exchange for the prisoners taken on the 
Savannah, an equal number of those now held by us according to 
rank. I am yours, etc., 

Jefferson Davis, 
President, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Nftvy 
of the Confederate States. 



MESSAGE. 

Delivered at Kichmond, July 20 
Gentlemen of the Congress of the Confederate States of America : 

My message addressed to you at the commencement of the last * 
session, contained such full information of the state of the Con- 
federacy, as to render it unnecessary that I should now do more 
than call your attention to such important facts as have occurred 
during the recess, and the matters connected with the pubhc 
defense. 

In this war, rapine is the rule ; private houses, in beautiful 



102 APPENDIX. 

rural retreats, are bombarded and burnt ; grain crops in the 
field are consumed by the torch, and, when the torch is not con- 
venient, careful labor is bestowed to render complete the destruc- 
tion of every article of use or ornament remaining in private 
dwellings after their inhabitants have fled from the outrages of 
brute soldiery. In 1181, Great Britain, when invading the revol- 
ted colonies, took possession of every district and county near 
Fortress Monroe, now occupied by the troops of the United 
States. The houses then inhabited by the people, after being 
respected and protected by avowed invaders, are now pil- 
laged and destroyed by men who pretend that Yirginiaus are 
their fellow-citizens. Mankind will shudder at the tales of the 
outrages committed on defenseless families by soldiers of the 
United States, now invading our homes ; yet these outrages are 
prompted by inflamed passions and the madness of intoxication. 
But who shall depict the horror they entertain for the cool and 
deliberate malignancy which, under the pretext of suppressing 
insurrection (said by themselves to be upheld by a minority only 
of our people), makes special war on the sick, including children 
and women, by carefully-devised measures to prevent them from 
obtaining the medicines necessary for their cure. The sacred 
claims of humanity, respected even during the fury of actual 
battle, by careful diversion of attack from hospitals containing 
wounded enemies, are outraged in cold blood by a Government 
and people that pretend to desire a continuance of fraternal con- 
nections. All these outrages must remain unavenged by the 
universal reprehension of mankind. In all cases where the actual 
perpetrators of the wrongs escape capture, they admit of no 



APPENDIX. 103 

retaliation. The humanity of our people would shrink instinc- 
tively from the bare idea of urging a like war upon the sick, tlie 
women, and the children of an enemy. But there are other sav- 
age practices which have been resorted to by the Government 
of the United States, which do admit of repression by retaliation, 
and I have been driven to the necessity of enforcing the repres- 
sion. The prisoners of war taken by the enemy on board the 
armed schooner " Savannah," sailing under our commissiofi, were, 
as I was credibly advised, treated like common felons, put in 
irons, confined in a jail usually appropriated to criminals of the 
worst dye, and threatened with punishment as such. I had 
made application for the exchange of these prisoners to the com- 
manding officer of the enemy's squadron off Charleston, but that 
officer had already sent the prisoners to New York when appli- 
cation was made. I therefore deemed it my duty to renew the 
proposal for the exchange to the constitutional commander-in- 
chief of the army and navy of the United States, the only officer 
having control of the prisoners. To this end, I dispatched an 
officer to him under a flag of truce, and, in making the proposal, 
I informed President Lincoln of my resolute purpose to check all 
barbarities on prisoners of war by such severity of retaliation 
on prisoners held by us as should secure the abandonment of the 
practice. This communication was received and read by an 
officer-in-command of the United States forces, and a message 
was brought from him by the bearer of my communication, that 
a reply would be returned by President Lincoln as soon as pos- 
sible. I earnestly hope this promised reply (which has not yet 
been received) will convey the assurance that prisoners of war 



104 APPENDIX. 

will be treated, in this unhappy contest, witli that regard for 
humanity, wliich has made such conspicuous progress in the con- 
duct of modern warfare. As measures of precaution, however, 
and until this promised reply is received, I still retain in close 
custody some officers captured from the enemy, whom it had 
been my pleasure previously to set at large on parole, and whose 
fate must necessarily depend on that of prisoners held by the 
enemy.^ I append a copy of my communication to the President 
and commander-in-chief of the array and navy of the United 
States, and of the report of the officer charged to deliver my 
communication. There are some other passages in the remark- 
able paper to which I have directed your attention, having 
reference to the peculiar relations which exist between this 
Government and the States usually termed Border Slave States, 
which cannot properly be withheld from notice. The hearts of 
our people are animated by sentiments toward the inhabitants 
of these States, which found expression in your enactment refu- 
sing to consider them enemies, or authorize hostilities against 
them. That a very large portion of the people of these States 
regard us as brethren ; that, if unrestrained by the actual pre- 
sence of large armies, subversion of civil authority, and declar- 
ation of martial law, some of them, at least, would joyfully unite 
with us; that they are, with almost entire unanimity, opposed 
to the prosecution of the war waged against us, are facts of 
which daily-recurring events fully warrant the assertion that the 
President of the United States refuses to recognize in these, our 
late sister States, the right of refraining from attack upon us, 
and justifies his refusal by the assertion that the States have no 



APPENDIX. 106 

Other power than tliat reserved to them in the Union by the Con- 
stitution. IN'ow, one of them having ever been a State of the 
Union, this view of the constitutional reUitions between the 
States and the General Government is a fitting introduction to 
another assertion of the message, that the executive possesses 
power of suspending the writ of habeas corpus, and of delegating 
that power to military commanders at their discretion. 



ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF THE CONFEDERATE 

STATES. 

Executive Office, Richmond, April 10, 18G3. 

In compliance with the request of Congress, contained in the 
resolutions passed on the fourth day of the present month, I. invoke 
your attention to the present condition and future prospects of our 
country, and to the duties which patriotism imposes on us all dur- 
ing this great struggle for our homes and our liberties. These 
resolutions are in the following language : 

[Here follow the resolutions passed by the Confederate Congress, 
requesting Mr. Davis to issue an address.] 

Fully concurring in the views thus expressed by Congress, I 
confidently appeal to your love of country for aid in can-ying into 
effect the recommendations of your Senators and Representatives. 

We have reached the close of the second year of the war, and 
may point with just pride to the history of our young Confederacy. 
Alone, unaided, w^e have met and overthrown the most formidable 
combinations of naval and military armaments that the lust of 
conquest ever gathered together for the conquest of a free people. _ 

6* 



106 APPENDIX. 

"We began this struggle without a single gun afloat, while the re- 
sources of our enemy enabled them to gather fleets which, accord- 
ing to their official list, pubHshed in August last, consisted of four 
hundred and thirty-seven vessels, measuring eight hundred and 
forty thousand and eighty-six tons, and carrying three thousand 
and twenty-six guns ; yet we have captured, sunk, or destroyed a 
number of these vessels, including two large frigates and one 
steam sloop-of-war, while four of their captured steam gun-boats 
are now in our possession, adding to the strength of our little 
navy, which is rapidly gaining in numbers and efficiency. 

To oppose invading forces composed of levies which have already 
exceeded thirteen hundred thousand men, we had no resources but 
the unconquerable valor of a people determined to be free ; and 
we were so destitute of military supplies that tens of thousands of 
our citizens were reluctantly refused admission into the service 
from our inability to furnish them arms, while for many months 
the continuation of some of our strongholds owed their safety 
chiefly to a careful concealment of the fact that we were without 
a supply of powder for our cannon. 

Your devotion and patriotism have triumphed over all these 
obstacles, and calling into existence the munitions of war, the 
clothing and the subsistence, which have enabled our soldiers to 
illustrate their valor on numerous battle-fields, and to inflict crush- 
ing defeats on successive armies, each of which our arrogant foe 
fondly imagined to be invincible. 

The contrast between our past and present condition is well 
calculated to inspire full confidence in the triumph of our arms. 
At no previous period of the war have our forces been so numer- 



APPENDIX. 107 

oiis, so well organized, and so thoroughly disciplined, armed and 
equipped, as at present. The season of high-water, on which our 
enemies relied to enable their fleets of gunboats to penetrate into 
our country and devastate our homes, is fast passing away ; yet 
our strongholds on the Mississippi still bid defiance to the foe, and 
months of costly preparation for their reduction have been spent 
in vain. Disaster has been the result of their every effort to turn 
or storm Yicksburg and Port Hudson, as well as every attack on 
our batteries on the Red River, the Tallahatchie, and other navi- 
gable streams. Within a few weeks the falling waters and the 
increasing heats of summer will complete their discomfiture, and 
compel their baffled and defeated forces to the abandonment of 
expeditions on which was based their chief hope of success in effect- 
ing our subjugation. 

We must not forget, however, that the war is not yet ended, 
and that we are still confronted by powerful armies and threatened 
by numerous fleets, and that the Government that controls those 
fleets and armies is driven to the most desperate efforts to effect 
the unholy purposes in which it has thus far been defeated. It 
will use its utmost energy to avert this impending doom, so fully 
merited by the atrocities it has committed, the savage barbarities 
which it has encouraged, and the crowning attempt to' excite a * 
servile population to the massacre of our wives, our daughters, and 
our helpless children. 

With such a contest before us, there is but one danger which 
the government of your choice regards with apprehension ; and to 
avert this danger it appeals to the never-failing patriotism and 
spirit which you have exhibited since the beginning of the war. 



108 APPENDIX. 

The very unfavorable season, the protracted droughts of last 
year, reduced the harvests on which we depend far below an aver- 
age yield, and the deficiency was, unfortunately, still more marked 
in the northern part of our Confederacy, where supplies were 
specially needed for the array. If, through a confidence in an 
early peace, which may prove delusive, our fields should now be 
devoted to the production of cotton and tobacco, instead of grain 
and live stock, and other articles necessary for the subsistence of 
the people and army, the consequences may prove serious, if not 
disastrous, especially should this present season prove as unfavora- 
ble as the last. Your countiy, therefore, appeals to you to lay 
aside all thought of gain, and to devote yourselves to securing 
your liberties, without which these gains would be valueless. 

It is true that the wheat harvest in the more Southern States, 
which will be gathered next month, promises an abundant yield ; 
but even if this promise be fulfilled, the difficulties of transporta- 
tion, enhanced as it has been by an unusually rainy winter, will 
cause embarrassments in military operations, and sufferings among 
the people, should the crops in the middle and northern portions of 
the Confederacy prove deficient. But no uneasiness may be felt 
in regard to a mere supply of bread for men. It is for the large 
amount of corn and forage required in the raising of live stock, 
and the supplies of the animals used for military operations, too 
bulky for distant transportation ; and in them the deficiency of 
the last harvest was mostly felt. Let your fields be devoted ex- 
clusively to the production of corn, oats, beans, peas, potatos, 
and other food for man and beast. Let corn be sowed broadcast, 
for fodder, in immediate proximity to railroads, rivers and canals ; 



APPENDIX. 109 

and let all your efforts be directed to the prompt supply of these 
articles in the districts where our armies are operating. You will 
thus add greatly to their efficiency, and furnish the means without 
which it is impracticable to make those prompt and active move- 
ments which have hitherto stricken terror into our enemies, and 
secured our most brilliant triumphs. 

Having thus placed before you, my countrymen, the reasons for 
the call made on you for aid in supplying the wants of the coming 
year, I add a few words of appeal in behalf of the brave soldiers 
now confronting your enemies, and to whom your government is 
unable to furnish all the comforts they so richly merit. The sup- 
ply of meal for the army is deficient. This deficiency is only tem- 
porary, for measures have been adopted which will, it is believed, 
soon enable us to restore the full rations ; but that ration is now 
reduced at times to one-half the usual quantity in some of our 
armies. It is known that the supply of meat throughout the 
country is sufficient for the support of all ; but the distances are 
so great, the condition of the roads has been so bad during the 
five months of winter weather through which we have just passed, 
and the attempt of grovehng speculators to forestal the market 
and make money out of the life-blood of our defenders, have so 
much influenced the withdrawal from sale of the surplus in hands 
of the producers, that the Government has been unable to gather 
full supplies. 

The Secretary of War has prepared a plan, which is appended 
to this address, by the aid of which, or some similar means to be 
adopted by yourselves, you can assist the officers of the Govern- 
ment in the purchase of the corn, the bacon, the pork, and the 



110 APPENDIX. 

beef known to exist in large quantities in different parts of the 
country. Even if the surplus be less than believed, is it not a 
bitter and humiliating reflection that those who remain at home, 
secure from hardship, and protected from danger, should be in the 
enjoyment of abundance, and that their slaves also should have a 
full supply of food, while their sons, brothers, husbands and 
fathers, are stinted in the rations on which their health and effi- 
ciency depend ? 

Entertaining no fear that you will either misconstrue the mo- 
tives of this address, or fail to respond to the call of patriotism, I 
have placed the facts fully and frankly before you. Let us all 
unite in the performance of our duty, each in his sphere, and with 
concerted, persistent, and well-directed effort, there seems Uttle 
reason to doubt that, under the blessings of Him to whom we 
look for guidance, and who has been to us our shield and strength, 
we shall maintain the sovereignty and independence of the Con- 
federate States, and transmit to our posterity the heritage be- 
queathed to us by our fathers. 

Jefferson Davis. 



SPEECH 

BEFORE THE LEGISLATURE OF MISSISSIPPI, DECEMBER 26. 

Friends and Fellow-Citizens, Gentlemen of the House of Re- 
presentatives and Senate of the State of Mississippi : 

After an absence of nearly two years I again find myself among 
those who, from the days of my childhood, have ever been the 



APPENDIX. Ill 

trusted objects of my affections, those for whose good I have ever 
striven, and whose interests I have sometimes hoped I may have 
contributed to subserve. Whatever fortunes I may have achieved 
in life have been gained as a representative of Mississippi, and 
before all, I have labored for the advancement of her glory 
and honor. I now, for the first tune in my career, find myself the 
representative of a wider circle of interest ; but a circle in which 
the interests of Mississippi are still embraced. Two years ago, 
nearly, I left you to assume the duties which had devolved on me 
as the representative of the new Confederacy. The responsibili- 
ties of this position have occupied all my time, and have left me 
no opportunity for mingling with my friends in Mississippi, or for 
sharing in the dangers which have menaced them. But, wherever 
duty may have called me, my heart has been with you, and the 
success of the cause in which we are all engaged has been first in 
my thoughts and prayers. I thought, when I left Mississippi, 
that the service to which I was called would prove to be but tem- 
porary. The last time I had the honor of addressing you from 
this stand I was influenced by that idea. I then imagined that it 
might be my fortune agaui to lead Mississippians in the field, and 
to be with them where danger was to be braved and glory won. 
I thought to find that place which I beheved to be suited to my 
capacity — that of an officer in service of the State of Mississippi. 
For, although in the discharge of my duties as President of the 
Confederate States, I had determined to make no distinction be- 
tween the various parts of the country — to know no separate 
State — yet my heart has always beat more warmly for Mississippi, 
and I have looked on Mississippi soldiers with a pride and emotion 



112 APPENDIX. 

such as no others inspired. But it was decided differently. I was 
called to another sphere of action. How, in that sphere, I have 
discharged the duties and obligations imposed on me, it does not 
become me to constitute myself the judge. It is for others to de- 
cide that question. But, speaking to you with that frankness and 
that confidence with which I have always spoken to you, and 
which partakes of the nature of thinking aloud, I can say, with 
my hand upon my heart, that whatever I have done, has been done 
with the sincere purpose of promoting the noble cause in which 
we are engaged. The period which elapsed since I left you is 
short ; for the time, which may appear long in the life of man, is 
short in the history of a nation. And in that short period re- 
markable changes have been wrought in all the circumstances by 
which we are surrounded. At the time of which I speak, the 
question presented to our people was : " Will there be war ?" 
This was the subject of universal speculation. We had chosen to 
exercise an indisputable right — the right to separate from those 
with whom we conceived association to be no longer possible, and 
to establish a government of our own. 

I was among those who, from the beginning, predicted war, as 
the consequences of secession, although I must admit that the con- 
test has assumed proportions more gigantic than I had anticipated. 
I predicted war, not because our right to secede and to form a 
government of our own was not indisputable and clearly defined 
in the spirit of that declaration which rests the right to govern on 
the consent of the governed, but saw that the wickedness of the 
North would precipitate a war upon us. Those who supposed 
that the exercise of this right of separation could not produce 



APPENDIX. 113 

war, have had cause to be convmced that they had credited their 
recent associates of the ^N'orth with a moderation, a sagacity, a 
morahty they did not possess. You have been involved in a war 
waged for the gratification of the lust of power and aggrandize- 
ment, for your conquest and your subjugation, with a mahgnant 
ferocity, and with a disregard and a contempt of the usages of 
civilization, entirely unequaled in history. Such, I have ever 
warned you, were the characteristics of the Northern people — 
of those with whom our ancestors entered into a Union of con- 
sent, and with whom they formed a constitutional compact. 
And yet, such was the attachment of our people for that 
Union, such their devotion to it, that those who desired pre- 
paration to be made for the inevitable conflict, were denounced 
as men who wished to destroy the Union. After what has 
happened during the last two years, my only wonder is, that 
we consented to live for so long a time in association with such 
miscreants, and have loved so much a government rotten to the 
core. Were it ever to be proposed again to enter into a Union 
with such a people, I could no more consent to do it than to trust 
myself in a den of thieves. 

You in Mississippi have but little experienced as yet the horrors 
of the war. You have seen but little of the savage manner in 
which it is waged by your barbarous enemies. It has been my 
fortune to witness it in all its terrors ; in a part of the country 
where old men have been torn from their homes, carried into cap- 
tivity, and immured in distant dungeons, and where delicate 
women have been insulted by a brutal soldiery, and forced even to 
cook for the dirty Federal mvaders ; where property has been 



114 APPENDIX. 

wantonly destroyed, the country ravaged, and every outrage com- 
mitted. And it is with these people that our fathers formed 
a union and a solemn contract. There is indeed a difference 
between the two peoples. Let no man hug the delusion that 
there can be renewed association between them. Our enemies are 
a traditionless and homeless race ; from the time of Cromwell to 
the present moment, they have been disturbers of the peace of the 
world. Gathered together by Cromwell from the bogs and fens 
of the North of Ireland and of England, they commenced by dis- 
turbing the peace of their own country ; they disturbed Holland, 
to which they fled, and they disturbed England on their return. 
They persecuted Catholics in England, and they hung Quakers 
and witches in America. 

Having been hurried into a war with a people so devoid of every 
mark of civilization, you have no doubt wondered that I have not 
carried out the policy, which I had intended should be our 
policy — of fighting our battles on the fields of the enemy, instead 
of suffering him to fight them on ours. This was not the result 
of my will, but the power of the enemy. They had at their com- 
mand all the accumulated wealth of seventy years — the military 
stores which had been laid up during that time. They had grown 
rich from the taxes wrung from you for the establishing and 
supporting their manufacturing institutions. We have entered 
upon a conflict with a nation contiguous to us in territory, and 
vastly superior to us in numbers. In the face of these facts, the 
wonder is not that we have done little, but that we have done so 
much. In the first year of the war, our forces were sent into the 
field poorly armed, and were far inferior in number to the enemy. 



APPENDIX. 115 

We were compelled even to arm ourselves by the capture of 
weapons taken from the foe on the battle-field. Tlius in every 
battle we exchanged our arms for those of the invaders. At the 
end of twelve months of the war, it was still necessary for us to 
adopt some expedient to enable us to maintain our ground. The 
only expedient remaining to us was to call on those brave men who 
had entered the service of the country at the beginning of the 
war, supposing that the conflict was to last but a short time, and 
that they would not be long absent from their homes. Tlie only 
expedient, I say, was to call on these gallant men ; to ask them 
to maintain their position in front of the enemy, and to surrender 
for a time their hopes of soon returning to their famihes and 
friends. And nobly did they respond to the call. They answered 
that they were wilHng to stay ; that they were willing to maintain 
their position, and to breast the tide of invasion. But it was not 
just that they should stand alone. They asked that the men who 
had stayed at home — who had thus far been sluggards in the 
cause — should be forced likewise to meet the enemy. 

From this resulted the law of Congress, which is known as the 
Conscription Act, which declared all men, from the age of 
eighteen to the age of thirty-five, to be liable to enrolment in the 
Confederate service. I regret that there has been some prejudice 
excited against the act, and that it has been subjected to harsher 
criticism than it deserves. And here I may say that an erroneous 
impression appears to prevail in regard to this act. It is no 
disgrace to be brought into the army by conscription. There is 
no more reason to expect from the citizen voluntary service in the 
army than to expect voluntary labor on the public roads, or the 



116 APPENDIX. 

voluntary payment of taxes. Bat these things we do not expect. 
We assess the property of the citizen — we appoint tax-gatherers : 
why should we not likewise distribute equally the labor, and enforce 
equally the obligation of defending the country from its enemies ? 
I repeat that it is no disgrace to any one to be conscripted, but it 
is a glory for those who do not wait for the conscription. Thus 
resulted the Conscription Act ; and thence arose the necessity for 
the Conscription Act. The necessity was met ; but when it was 
fbund that under these acts enough men were not drawn into the 
ranks of the army to fulQll the purposes intended, it became neces- 
sary to pass another Conscription Act, and another Conscription 
Act. It is onl^ of this latter that I desire to speak. Its policy 
was to leave at home those men needed to conduct the administra- 
tion, and those who might be required to support and maintain the 
industry of the country — in other words, to exempt from military 
service those whose labor, employed in other avocations, might be 
more profitable to the country and to the Government than in the 
ranks of the army. 

I am told that this act has excited some discontentment, and 
that it has provoked censure, far more severe, I believe, than it 
deserves. It has been said that it exempts the rich from military 
service, and forces the poor to fight the battles of the country. 
The poor do, indeed, fight the battles of the country. It is the 
poor who save nations and make revolutions. But is it true that 
in this war, the men of property have shrunk from the ordeal of 
the battle-field ? Look through the army ; cast your eyes upon 
the maimed heroes of the war whom you meet in your streets and 
in the hospitals ; remember the martyrs of the conflict ; and I am 



APPENDIX. 117 

Bure you will find among them more than a fair proportion drawn 
from the ranks of men of property. The object of that portion of 
the act which exempts those having charge of twenty or more 
negroes, was not to draw any distinction of classes, but simply to 
provide a force, in the nature of a police force, sufficient to keep 
our negroes in control. This was the sole object of the clause. 
Had it been otherwise, it would never have received my signature. 
As I have already said, we have no cause to complain of the 
rich. All our people have done well, and, while the poor have 
nobly discharged their duties, most of the wealthiest and most 
distinguished families of the South have representatives in the 
ranks. I take, as an example, the case of one of your own repre- 
sentatives in Congress, who was nominated for Congress and 
elected ; but still did a sentinel's duty until Congress met. Nor 
is this a solitary instance, for men of largest fortune in Mississippi 
are now serving in the ranks. 

Permit me now to say that I have seen with peculiar pleasure 
the recommendation of your Governor in his Message, to make 
some provision for the families of the absent soldiers of Missis- 
sippi. Let this provision be made for the objects of his aflfeotioii 
and his solicitude, and the soldier engaged in fighting the battles 
of his country will no longer be disturbed in his slumber by 
dreams of an unprotected and neglected family at home. Let 
him know that his mother Mississippi has spread her protecting 
mantle over those he loves, and he will be ready to fight your 
battles, to protect your honor, and in your cause to die. There 
is another one of the Governor's propositions to which I wish to 
allude. I mean the proposition to call upon those citizens who 



118 APPENDIX. 

are not subject to the Confederate conscription law, and to form 
them into a reserve corps for the purpose of aiding in the defense 
of the State. Men who are exempted by law from the perform- 
ance of any duty, do not generally feel the obligation to perform 
that duty unless called upon by the law. But I am confident 
that the men of Mississippi have only to know that their soil is 
invaded, their cities menaced, to rush to meet the enemy, even 
if they serve only for thirty days. I see no reason why the State 
may not, in an exigency like that which now presses on her, call 
on our reserved forces, and organize them for service. Such 
troops could be of material benefit, by serving in intrenchments, 
and thus relieving the veteran and disciplined soldiers for the 
duties of the field, where discipline is so much needed. At the end 
of a short term of service they could return to their homes and 
to their ordinary avocations, resuming those duties necessary to 
the public prosperity. 

In the course of this war our eyes have been often turned 
abroad. We have expected sometimes recognition and some- 
times intervention at the hands of foreign nations, and we had a 
right to expect it. Never before in the history of the world had 
a people so long a time maintained their ground, and showed 
themselves capable of maintaining their national existence, with- 
out securing the recognition of commercial nations. I know not 
why this has been so, but this I say, " Put not your trust in 
princes," and rest not your hopes on foreign nations. This war 
is ours : we must fight it out ourselves ; and I feel some pride 
in knowing that so far we have done it without the good-will of 
anybody. It is true that there are now symptoms of a change 



APPENDIX. 119 

in public opinion abroad. They give us their admiration — they 
sometimes even say to us God-speed — and in the remarkable 
book written by Mr. Spence, the question of secession has been 
discussed with more of ability than it ever has been even iu this 
country. Yet England still holds back, but France, the ally of 
other days, seems disposed to hold out to us the hand of fellow- 
ship. And when France holds out to us her hand, right will- 
ingly will we grasp it. 

During the last year, the war has been characterized by varied 
fortunes. New Orleans fell — a sad blow it was to the valley of 
the Mississippi, and as unexpected to me as to any one. Mem- 
phis also fell ; and besides these we have lost various points on 
the Atlantic coast. The invading armies have pressed upon us 
at some points ; at others they have been driven back ; but 
take a view of our condition now, and compare it with what it 
was a year ago — look at the enemy's position as it then was and 
as it now is ; consider their immense power, vast numbers, and 
great resources; look at all these things, and you will be con- 
vinced that our condition now will compare favorably with what 
it was then. Armies are not composed of numbers alone. Offi- 
cers and men are both to be disciplined and instructed. When 
the war first began the teacher and the taught were in the con- 
dition of the blind leading the blind ; now all this is changed for 
the better. Our troops have become disciplined and instructed. 
They have stripped the gun-boat of its terrors ; they have beaten 
superior numbers in the field ; they have discovered that with 
their short-range weapons they can close upon the long-range of 
the enemy and capture them. Thus in all respects, moral as 



120 APPENDIX. 

well as physical, we are better preoared than we were a year 

82-0. 



ADDUESS 

TO THE SOLDIERS OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES. 

After more than two years of a warfare scarcely equaled iu 
the number, magnitude, and fearful carnage of its battles — a 
warfare in which your courage and fortitude have illustrated 
3'our country, and attracted not only gratitude at home, but 
admiration abroad — your enemies continue a struggle iu which 
our final triumph must be inevitable. Unduly elated with their 
recent successes, they imagine that temporary reverses can quell 
your spirit or shake your determination, and they are now gath- 
ering heavy masses for a general invasion, in the vain hope that 
by a desperate effort success may at length be reached. 

You know too well, my countrymen, what tbey mean by suc- 
cess. Their malignant rage aims at nothing less than the exter- 
mination of yourselves, your wives and children. They seek to 
destroy what they cannot plunder. They propose as the spoils 
of victory that your homes shall be partitioned among the 
wretches whose atrocious cruelties have stamped infamy on their 
government. They design to incite servile insurrection, and light 
the fires of incendiarism whenever they can reach your homes, 
and they debauch the inferior race, hitherto docile and contented, 
by promising indulgence of the vilest passions as the price of 
treachery. Conscious of their inability to prevail by legitimate 
warfare, not daring to make peace lest they should be hurled 



APPENDIX. 121 

from their seats of power, the men who now rule in Washington 
xefuse even to confer on the subject of putting an end to outrages 
which disgrace our age, or to listen to a suggestion for conduct- 
ing the war according to the usages of civilization. 

Fellow-citizens, no alternative is left you but victory, or subju- 
gation, slavery, and the utter ruin of yourselves, your famiUes, and 
your country. The victory is within your reach. You need but 
stretch forth your hands to grasp it. For this and all that is 
necessary is that those who are called to the field by every motive 
that can move the human heart, should promptly repair to the 
post of duty, should stand by their comrades now in front of the 
foe, and thus so strengthen the armies of the Confederacy as to 
insure success. The men now absent from their posts would, if 
present in the field, suffice to create numerical equality between 
our force and that of the invaders — and when, with any approach 
to such equality, have we failed to be victorious ? I believe that 
but few of those absent are actuated by unwilhngness to serve 
their country ; but that many have found it difficult to resist the 
temptation of a visit to their homes, and the loved ones from 
whom they have been so long separated ; that others have left for 
temporary attention to their affairs, with the intention of return- 
ing, and then have shrunk from the consequences of their violation 
of duty ; that others again have left their posts from mere rest- 
lessness and desire of change, each quieting the upbraidings of his 
conscience by persuading himself that his individual services could 
have no influence on the general result. 

These and other causes (although far less disgraceful than the 
desire to avoid danger, or to escape from the sacrifices requked by 

6 



122 APPENDIX. 

patriotism) are, nevertheless, grievous faults, and place the cause 
of our beloved country, and of everything we hold dear, in immi- 
nent peril. I repeat that the men who now owe duty to their 
country, who have been called out and have not yet reported for 
duty, or who have absented themselves from their posts, are 
Buflficient in number to secure us victory in the struggle now im- 
pending. 

I call on you, then, my countrymen, to hasten to your camps, 
in obedience to the dictates of honor and of duty, and summon 
those who have absented themselves without leave, who have re- 
mained absent beyond the period allowed by their furloughs, to 
repair without delay to their respective commands ; and I do 
hereby declare that I grant a general pardon and amnesty to all 
officers and men within the Confederacy, now absent without 
leave, who shall, with the least possible delay, return to their pro- 
per posts of duty ; but no excuse will be received for any delay 
beyond twenty days after the first publication of this proclamation 
in the State in which the absentee may be at the date of the pub- 
lication. This amnesty and pardon shall extend to all who have 
been accused, or who have been convicted and are undergoing 
sentence for absence without leave or desertion, excepting only 
those who have been twice convicted of desertion. 

Finally, I conjure my countrywomen, the wives, mothers, sisters, 
and daughters of the Confederacy — to use their all-powerful influ- 
ence in aid of this call, to add one crowning sacrifice to those 
which their patriotism has so freely and constantly afforded on 
their country's altar, and to take care that none who owe service 
m the field shall be sheltered at home from the disgrace of having 



APPENDIX. 123 

deserted their duty to their families, to their country, and to their 
God. 

Given onder my hand, and the Seal of the Confederate 
States, at Richmond, tbis first day of August, in the 
(seal.) year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
three, 

Jeffeeson Davis. 
By the President : 

J. P. Benjamin, 

Secretary <rf State. 



124 APPENDIX. 



ACCOUNT OF THE ESCAPE FROM RICHMOND 

AND 

SUBSEQUENT CAPTURE OF JEFFEKSON DAVIS. 

BY ONE OF HIS STAFF. 

" Mr. Davis went, as usual, to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 
where political and Christian hopes were, once a week, blended for 
his edification. He looked careworn, yet contrived to tinge his 
concern with a briskness which warded off suspicion. A certain 
ominous telegram that he received in the early part of the morn- 
ing was, however, a tormenting demon, manifestly too much for 
the perfect quiet which would be needed in the house of prayer and 
praise. 

*' While heaven was being assailed for favor and protection in 
every church of Richmond, Colonel Taylor Wood hastened to the 
door of St. Paul's, and despatched the sexton to Mr. Davis's pew. 
Only a few words were whispered softly in the ears of the Con- 
federate President — a few words which told him another despatch 
had come, and that he was immediately wanted. It was enough. 
The concourse of worshipers within St. Paul's read the whisper 
by the action of Mr. Davis, who instantly left the Church. No 
telegram ever flashed through the electric wires more swiftly than 
this unspoken intelligence shot from eye to eye of that dismayed 
congregation. Had an unseen hand written the coming doom ou 



APPENDIX. 125 

the wall iu letters of fire, the effect could not have been more ap- 
palling or more instantaneous. 

" Orders were issued, about two o'clock, to the principal mili- 
tary and civil officials to have all the government archives not yet 
removed, and which it was possible to remove, ready by seven 
o'clock ; what could not be easily transported were to be des- 
, troyed. Orders were also given to these same personages to 
meet Mr. Davis at the Danville depot by eight o'clock. 

" All the way to the rendezvous assigned for the flying ' Presi- 
dential party' was blocked by panting fugitives, or by groups of 
wonder-gapers. At last the Danville depot is reached through a 
crush of eager men scramblmg for admission to the platform. 
Two militia regiments had parties on duty. None were admitted 
to the ' Presidential train' except a specified few. Other trains 
had gone, others were to go. The crowd must push aside. Pro- 
vost-Marshal Carrington, with a select guard, saw that no one en- 
tered unless duly authorized. He called for each cabinet officer 
to designate his special few. It was done amidst fierce confusion. 

" By eight o'clock all intended for this train were seated and 
ready to go. Several other trains were in course of preparation. 
But it was ten o'clock before the Davis train moved. The delay 
begat a variety of surmises. Some held that Lee had won a 
great victory, and that the necessity for going had passed away. 
Others imagined that the Southern army was unable to defend the 
road, and that the necessity for staying was imperative. Mean- 
while, the militia, who were doing guard duty, began gradually to 
. *go home ;' and before we left, not half the number were at their 
posts ; meanwhile, also, pillage and riot had begun in the city, of „ 



1^ APPENDIX, 

which we were blissfally ignorant ; meanwhile, too, a gnard of 
two hundred picked men entered a car ready for them between 
the engine and the Davis carnage ; finally, General Breckinridge 
arrived with news for the Davis party that Lee could not save 
the city, but that the road was clear, and likely to remain so until 
this precious freight was out of immediate danger. 

" Then Mr. Davis and his party tightened their spurs to their 
heels (horses were in a car for the Cabinet and staff), saw to their 
small arms, leaned back on their seats, and the signal puff was 
given. And then and there began the flight — there, at ten 
o'clock on the night of April 2, 1865 — ^there, amid a turmoil 
seldom equaled, and thence through scenes and incidents as 
varied and harassing as any in history. 

" Burkesville, which we reached shortly after daybreak, was 
the first place at which any of our distinguished men got off the 
train — it was also the first place we had a clear-eyed view of 
since the night before. I am particular in mentioning this, for 
there was something ominous in that first place and first view. 
It was a wreck — a woful ruin — one of the saddest havoc-sights 
Mr. Davis had yet seen. Raiders had torn it to pieces, and the 
pleasant, bustling little junction of other days was only visible 
in its vestiges. Mr. Davis got out and walked a few minutes on 
the platform. Owing to his unsightly spectacles he was not at 
once recognized by the people who were even thus early at the 
station. Judge Reagan was also there. As soon as the few 
stragglers at the station knew that the train contained their Pre- 
sident, they sought him, crowded around him, kindly and res- 
pectfully spoke in smothered tones, and looked most sorrowful 



APPENDIX. 127 

" About forty miles beyond the junction we came up with two 
trains which had stopped. Both contained minor officials and 
convalescent soldiers, and both had gone off the track. The 
foremost train had one of its cars broken, five lives being the 
cost of the accident. Everything appeared burdened with a 
portent of evil, thus far. The five victims of this accident were 
laid out near a grove as we came up. They were wounded sol- 
diers from Alabama — gallant men who had dragged their lives 
most gloriously from the battle-field, to have them most iuglo- 
riously sacrificed by incompetent or reckless railway officials. 
There they lay, all their aspirations for the home to which they 
hoped themselves bound, sunk forever within the confines of one 
common, coffinless grave preparing for them. There was no 
need to give sadder zest to the sadness we all felt ; but this cal- 
amity upon which we so unexpectedly trod, left us 

* Stunned by death's twice mortal mace.* 

" Mr Davis got out to inquire into the circumstances of the 
disaster ; all the others got out too ; but no one except myself 
wxnt over to where the ' nameless heroes lay,' in a most melan- 
choly row — a neighboring farmer keeping the flies from their 
ghastly faces, and two negroes diggmg a long hole in which what 
was left of the luckless soldiers was to be deposited. 

" ' Taking this sort of mterruption as an omen, I don't relish 
it/ said Benjamin, when his companions were once more seated. 

" ' Yet it is preferable to the kind we expected,' remarked a 
Major Wheeler immediately behind hun, who had a holy horror of 
Sheridan. 



128 APPEin)ix. 

' "'Not preferable/ cried Lubbock, sharply; ^some may dis- 
trust their personal safety, but we are enough to whip a whole 
brigade of raiders. Give me an interruption from living Yankees, 
whom I can slay, but no interruption like this.' 

" ' It was to be,' whined one of the preachers, emphatically. 

" Mr. Davis said not a word, sighed, and leaned back to peer 
vacantly at dim distance. 

" Approaching Danville, the question, 'Whither are we going?' 
came up for consideration. To leave Richmond by the safest 
route, and get clear of Grant, was the only object in view at 
starting. Now that Richmond was abandoned to Grant, and the 
escaped Government free from immediate danger, its destination 
was not easily determined. Danville was supposed to be too small 
for a temporary capital, and the good points of all other eligible 
cities were discussed generally and warmly. At length Mr. Davis 
put a stop to the matter by saying that he would not leave Vir- 
ginia until Lee was whipped out of it. 

" ' Then you can make up your mind to a long residence,' said 
Mr. Bruce, of Kentucky, confidently. 

" ' A day or two more will decide that,' was the wary remark 
of Mr. Benjamin. 

" The course finally determined on was this : the War and 
Navy Departments were to remain intact at Danville. As the 
State Department had nobody but Mr. Benjamin, and his assistant, 
Mr. Washington, there was no trouble about that. As the Navy 
Department bad only Mr. Mallory and three others, there was no 
trouble about that. As the Department of Justice had only Mr. 
George Davis himself, there was no trouble about that. The 



APPENDIX. iSft 

War Department had General Cooper and a host of clerks ; that 
was the only trouble left. By sending all the Quartermaster's 
and Commissary General's clerks on to Charlotte, the difficulty 
was brought to a practicable bearing. This settled, the new condi- 
tion of the Government was fixed, and Danville was, for the time 
being, to be its focus. 

"At the depot in Danville, a crowd, but not a great one, 
awaited us. All was silence and sadness. Mr. Davis divested 
himself of spurs, spectacles, and other similar appurtenances. So 
did all those who with him had prepared themselves for an attack 
and a different sort of flight across the country. He walked out 
to the platform, accompanied by Colonels Johnston, Lubbock and 
Ives. After him went his Cabinet, followed by Generals Cooper, 
Terry and Stuart. Colonel Harrison, Mr. Davis's private secre- 
tary, remained to see to the presidential baggage. On the plat- 
form were gentlemen representing the city of Danville, to offer its 
hospitalities to the capitalless President and his fleeing followers. 
Major Sunderland, one of the most eminent citizens of Danville, 
was present to invite Mr. Davis and Mr. Mallory to the most 
palatial residence in the place. The Mayor (Walker) was inde- 
fatigable in his attentions to all others. He was chief of a com- 
mittee having charge of the hospitalities, and his committee did 
all that men could do to uphold old Yirginia's claim to genial 
generosity. Every private house in the city was thrown open to 
all in our train ; not a being along with us was unprovided with 
a home ten minutes after the arrival of the train. 

" But, aside from this, what a sad plight we were in I Not a 
word of encouragement from Lee — not a word at all, in fax^. 



130 APPENDIX. 

" Next morning, tlie street and depot news was slightly more 
definite. 

''Mr. Davis was up very early, and out on the portico of his 
Danville residence, anxiously awaiting the arrival of a despatch or 
a courier. None, however, came, and both Lee and Breckinridge 
were pronounced remiss. He issued a proclamation to reassure 
the public, and to persuade them that it was for the special accom- 
modation of Lee's new tactics — field tactics as opposed to en- 
trenched positions — that Richmond was abandoned. The procla- 
mation was very spirited, and breathed defiance to the last. 

" Having nothing else to do, and confident that 'no news was 
good news,' Mr. Davis resolved on establishing his capital. An 
executive office was rented, and the President's aids set to work 
opening and referring letters. General Cooper started a war de- 
partment, and Mr. Mallory an office for the navy. Judge Reagan 
seized the Masonic Hall for a post-office department, and had 
chiefs of bureaus to go on with pubhc business. Captain Lee — 
the General's brother — went through the usual red tapeism of an 
order and detail office for the navy, and found himself soon as 
busy as ever he was in Richmond. Attorney-General Davis and 
Mr. Benjamin rested — law and foreign affairs were m abeyance. 

"The 6th, 7th and 8th of April came and went, yet not a word 
from Lee. Most ominous silence I In vain rumorists got up 
pleasing fictions ; to no purpose were sweeping theories devised ; 
apprehension laid hold of every one, and some misfortune was ex- 
pected. Mr. Davis evinced uneasiness, but no alarm. He was 
exemplary in his patience. It was that sort of patience which 
may be called carnage in repose. 



APPENDIX, 1^1 

" Late on Saturday evening, the 8th, a handsome story crept 
out and bloomed all over the city. A despatch was said to bo 
received — indeed, Captain Lee, the GeneraPs brother, told me it 
was received — and it read thus : — 

" * We have squarely beaten the Yanks in two days' fight. 

Lee is all right, and his army well in hand. 

" * Breckinridge,^ 

" This sent a thrill through the city, and when Sunday came, 
with fine, clear weather, the new capital looked happy, halcyon. 

" Everything looked prosperous on Monday morning, the 10th — 
everything but the weather, and that was lowering. About the 
usual breakfast time, however, people's faces wore a sombre 
appearance. The brilliant news bubble which gaily floated all day 
before was burst, and no news was still the answer to all inquiries 
about Lee. The effect was worse than if the fiction had not been 
invented. Toward mid-day the anxious crowds in the vicinity of 
the hotel, or loitering around the improvised department offices, or 
lounging at the railroad depot, began to be more than lugubrious. 
The railroad track at Burkesville was at last known to be torn 
up ; the telegraph wkes in that locality were known to be cut ; 
the Federal army was known to be between us and Lee. Alas 
for the hopes of Danville, and the defensive efforts of Brigadier- 
General and Admiral Semmes I Information of all this was too 
positive and too perplexing. Early in the afternoon it took a 
shape which scattered to the winds the fond speculations of 
Sunday. On every countenance you read panic. News, aye, 
positive, distinct, and direct news had at last arrived from Lee. 



1S2 APPENDIX. 

" But, heavens ! what news it was. The consternation in 
Richmond at the evacuation was as nothing when compared with 
the dismay depicted on every face in Danville as soon as that 
news leaked out. Lee had been whipped. Well, he can recover 
from the blow. But Lee had surrendered. Impossible I What, 
Lee surrender I Robert E. Lee do any such thing I The very 
thought seemed absurd. Yet the fact was so ; and slowly and 
reluctantly it had to be credited. Gloom the densest was abroad, 
and in harmony with its horrors the sky poured out its ton*ents, 
making Danville the most miserable and muddy place I ever tried 
to drag my feet through. 

" Orders were given for the evacuation of Danville at five 
o'clock on the evening of Sunday, the 10th of April. Mr. Davis 
was at the depot by half-past five o'clock. Mr. Trenholm, who 
was very ill, was carried there in an ambulance. Mr. Mallory 
rode about the city, issuing orders and doing hard work, to secure 
the transportation of all that was most valuable belonging to the 
navy. At the depot, amid a crush little inferior to that m Rich- 
mond eight days before, Judge Reagan sat moodily on a trunk. 
Near him was Mr. Benjamin, couched on some soft baggage, and 
the Attorney-General seated on a valise. Confusion was supreme, 
and it was half an hour before there was order enough to enable 
the President's train to receive its evacuating freight. At length 
the turmoil was over, and Mr. Davis, accompanied by the same 
party as when leaving Richmond (with the exception of Colonel 
Ives, who remained in Danville), started off for Greensboro in 
North Carolina. 

^' The news, which was long looked for, and so unwelcome wh^ 



APPENDIX^ 133 

it came, stunned all. Its effect on most of the old citizens of 
Richmond was to deter them from going further ; and thus the 
second stage of the evacuation had fewer to follow the fortunes of 
Davis than had the first. 

"Our progress was the progress of ill news speeding apace. 
As the tidings of the evacuation of Richmond had not preceded 
but accompanied us, so intelligence of Lee's surrender was borne 
along by our presence. No one in Greensboro even suspected it. 
We arrived early in the day. Both Johnston and Beauregard — 
the latter first, he being in command there — were soon with 
Mr. Davis. The inteiTiew was short, and evidently only a pre- 
paratory one. 

" In Greensboro, as in Danville, the naval store was well 
stocked. Fortunately it was ; for in Greensboro, as not in Dan- 
ville, the people were inhospitable. The home of the flying 
President was a railroad car. Not a soul offered the slightest 
courtesy. Mr. Trenholm alone, being very ill, was tendered the 
shelter of a house, and he was taken to Governor Morehead^s. 
All the others, cabinet and staff, roomed and mealed in the cars. 
Mr. Davis was persuaded to adopt a compromise — to sleep at a 
Httle house in which the wife and family of Colonel Taylor Wood 
had for some weeks been staying, and to spend the rest of his tinie * 
with his companions in the cars. 

" It would have been ludicrous, if it were less provocative 
of painful reflections, to think that the whole rebel government 
was cooped in those miserable cars. 

" General Breckinridge joined us at Greensboro, and brought 
all the details of Lee's surrender. Soon after his arrival, he and 



134 APPENDIX. 

Mr. Davis, and Generals Johnston and Beauregard, had a pro- 
longed consultation. 

" It was held on the slope of a little hill, just off the railway- 
track. The little hill was itself historic. It was there that Nat 
Greene, of revolutionary fame, held his council of war the night 
before the battle of Guildford Court-House. It was there that 
on the day after Green's defeat, Lord Rowen had his head- 
quarters. It was near to there that the churhsh Quaker refused 
Greene the hospitality of his house, saying, ' Get thee hence, 
wicked man ; I have nought to do with such as thee.' It was 
there that Greensboro first laid its claim to the cold unconcern 
which marked its conduct toward the tottering fortunes of 
the Confederate chiefs. It was there these chiefs were now 
grouped — Davis, Breckinridge, Beauregard, and Johnston — 
forming one picture ; Benjamin, Mallory, Reagan, and George 
Davis, another. 

" Although the collapse of the Confederacy was • evident to 
every one, since the surrender of Lee's army, the completeness 
of that sudden and astounding collapse was not thoroughly man- 
ifest until after this interview on the little historic hill beside the 
railroad at Greensboro. The indecision and vacillation of the 
* constitutional advisers' of Jefferson Davis were distressing. 
Neither he nor they seemed to know what next should be at- 
tempted, or what they should do even with themselves. They 
were utterly powerless, and evinced an absolute incapacity to 
deal with the dangers which encircled them as individuals. 

" On Good Friday orders were given to evacuate Greensboro. 
As the railroad was cut at Jamestown, twelve miles from Greens- 



APPENDIX. 135 

boro, the very morning of our arriva? at the latter place, it was 
decided that the * Presidential party ' must take to horses and 
wagons. 

" Thanks to the indefatigable efforts of Mr. Mallory, three 
ambulances were obtained. General Cooper, seeing the cramped 
accommodation, grew vehemently angry, and declared he would 
not go further. Mr. Mallory, who was on horseback, soon succeed- 
ed in soothing the enraged soldier, and he found himself at last 
seated by Mr. Benjamin in a wretched ambulance. Reagan, 
Mallory, and Breckinridge, with the members of his staff, etc., 
accompanied Mr. Davis on horseback. 

" I said it was raining, pouring. A bleaker evening's ride, 
under circumstances, too, sadly in keeping with the drenching 
character of the weather and the miry quality of the roads, no 
equestrian party ever took. We camped in a wood near James- 
town, and had a soaking soldier's night of it. Next morning, 
for potent reasons, Breckinridge, accompanied by Reagan, re- 
turned to Greensboro. What Johnston might choose to agree 
on, in his convention with Sherman, was a matter which needed 
looking into. The terms first submitted were Breckinridge's. 
These were rejected. They were the only terms Johnston was 
authorized to make, so far as Mr. Davis could give him author- 
ity. The compromise terms afterwards allowed by Breckinridge 
were not approved at Washington, and after waiting two days 
in the neighbourhood of the negotiations, Breckinridge consented 
to permit General Johnston to do the best he could. 

" The first positive information received in Charlotte as to 
Johnston's surrender came in the form of a telegram to his wife, 



13B APPENDIX. 

then staying there. It advised her to remain in Charlotte, and 
he, paroled, would soon join her. 

"I should mention that General Breckinridge telegraphed, 
among other things, to Charlotte the mere fact that President 
Lincoln was killed. The circumstances were not known until 
our arrival. Except some thoughtless enthusiast, no one heard 
the particulars and was uushocked. Mr. Davis said nothing in 
my hearing in the least like the remarks that have been ascribed 
to him. He made an inquiry similar to that of Benjamin, and 
looked rather than spoke his horror when the facts were put 
before him. ' It is awfuV was all I heard him say. 

" Next day, accompanied by a cavalry escort of about two 
thousand men, Jefferson Davis, cabinet, and staff, evacuated 
Charlotte, somewhat undetermined as to a future course. There 
had been some semblance of a capital, some show of governmen- 
tal routine, some pretense of the power he was elected to wield, 
up to this ; but now all that was vanished, and thenceforth the 
Confederate President was a fugitive, with hardly the shadow of 
authority. He looked sad, and, indeed, hopeless. Never a word 
escaped him which betrayed the faintest yielding. 

" Much has been said, and more supposed, in regard to the 
treasure he was carrying off in his train. The Confederate trea- 
sure was never with him or his train. It was the Richmond 
Bank specie that was fastened to his train at any time — its cus- 
todians deeming that course the safest. The Confederate specie 
was usually far away from him. It left Charlotte in charge of 
the midshipmen before he arrived tliere. What became of it 
finally I know not, although I know that a portion of it was 



APPENDIX. 137 

used to pay off certain troops, and others at various points, from 
Charlotte to Washington, in Georgia. 

" As Mr. Davis practically ceased to be a President from that 
day he evacuated Charlotte, and his course, after that, was an 
incessant flight, I can quickly tell all I have to add. From Char- 
lotte the Presidential party, attended by a more imposing escort 
than yet honored its progress, went to the Catawba river. 
It was like the sun setting — this array — the expiring glories of 
a four-years' gallantly-maintained power. George Davis had 
resigned the Attorney-Generalship of Charlotte. Mr. Trenholm 
resigned the Treasury-Secretaryship on the banks of the Catawba. 
Not only had the ' Presidential party ' become smaller by de- 
grees, but the high officials had begun to dwindle away, and the 
whole party was at length reduced to scanty numbers, though its 
escort was still large. Judge Reagan was appointed Acting- 
Secretary of the Treasury at the Catawba, about the last execu- 
tive deed of the flying President. 

" Delays were now not thought of, and on toward Abbeville, 
via Yorkville, the party struck, taking full soldiers' allowance of 
turmoil, and camping all the journey. Only intent on pushing to 
certain points on the Florida coast, onward it went. Rumors 
of Stoneman, rumors of Wilson, rumors even of the ubiquitous 
Sheridan, occasionally sharpened the excitement. The escort, 
for the sake of expedition, was shorn of its bulky proportions, 
and by the time we reached Washington in Georgia, there were 
only enough to make a fair fight with a respectable raiding 
party. 

"It was manifest at Washington that the disintegration which 



138 APPENDIX. 

Lad been apparent, more or less, from the outset among the 
Presidential followers had culminated. It was equally clear 
that Mr. Davis had little to expect from the people. Except at 
Charlotte, and there only qualifiedly, he experienced little like 
cordiality since leaving Virginia. North Carolina was positively 
cold or lukewarm. South Carolina displayed no marked indi- 
cations of sympathy ; and now in Georgia, and near to the home 
of Alexander H. Stephens, what could he expect ? 

" His companions all saw how it was, if not how it was so soon 
going to be. The personal safety of each became a question, and 
each was urged to secure it as he best could. Acting on the sug- 
gestion, Mr. Mallory quietly left his horses in charge of a friend, 
and boldly ventured himself in a railroad train to Barnett Station, 
thence on to Atlanta, where the Federals were in force. That 
far he was accompanied by Louis Wigfall, the quondam General 
and Texas Senator. From Atlanta the Confederate Navy Secre- 
tary took the West Point train and successfully reached Lagrange, 
where his family were, and where he was captured. 

" Mr. Benjamin disappeared before Washington, no «ne knew 
how or where. Thus, the Confederate President had left him 
only one cabinet officer, and that one the Postmaster General. 

" At last he got information that his own wife and family were 
in danger from the assaults of military marauders. Mrs. Davis, 
with her three children, accompanied by her sister. Miss Howell, 
had a wagon train of her own about twenty or thirty miles from 
her husband's party. She was very anxious to go her own way 
and be no embarrassment to him. She felt equal to the task of 
protecting herself from reckless Confederates, and felt sure of 



APPENDIX. iSd 

avoiding Federals. But no sooner did he ascertain that she was 
in danger, that two gangs had concocted a scheme to seize all her 
tranks, under the impression that she carried the rebel gold, than 
he resolved, at all hazards, to go to her rescue. It was a fond 
husband's, a fond father's infatuation. No remonstrance availed. 
He set out and rode eighteen miles to meet the object of his love 
and solicitude. He met them, and the first to rebuke him for his 
excess of fondness was the anxious wife and mother. A tent or 
two was already pitched, and he, weary to exhaustion, went to 
sleep, intending to retrace his steps before morning. Had he not 
gone to assure himself of his wife's safety, and had he not been ex- 
cessively fatigued while there, Colonel Pritchard would be without 
the honor of capturing him, for nothing was easier than his escape, 
as Breckenridge, and Wood, and the writer of this know, and by 
meeting no interruption, themselves have proved. Their immunity 
might have been his. 

*' But Davis ran his risks and took his chances, fully conscious 
of imminent danger, yet powerless, from physical wearmess, to do 
all he designed doing against the danger. When the musketry 
firing was heard in the morning at * dim grey dawn,' it was sup- 
posed to be between the rebel marauders and Mrs. Davis's few 
camp defenders. Under this impression he hurriedly put on his 
boots and prepared to go out for the purpose of interposing, say- 
ing :— 

" ' They will at least as yet respect me.' 

" As he got to the tent door thus hastily equipped, and with 
this good intention of preventing an effusion of blood, by an ap- 



140 APPENDIX. 

peal in the name of a fading but not wholly faded authority, ho 
saw a few cavalry ride up the road, and deploy in front 

" * Ha, Federals 1' was his exclamation. 

" ' Then you are captured,' cried Mrs. Davis, with emotion. 

" In a moment she caught an idea — a woman's idea, and as 
quickly as women in an emergency execute their designs, it was 
done. He slept in a wrapper— a loose one. It was yet around 
him. This she fastened ere he was aware of it, and then bidding 
him adieu, urged him to go to the spring, a short distance off, 
where his horses and arms were. Strange as it may seem, there 
was not even a pistol in the tent. Davis felt that his only course 
was to reach his horse and arms, and complied. As he was 
leaving the door, followed by a servant with a water bucket. Miss 
Howell flung a shawl over his head. There was no time to re- 
move it without exposure and embarrassment, and as he had not 
far to go, he ran the chance exactly as it was devised for him. 
In these two articles consisted the woman's attire of which so 
much nonsense has been spoken and written, and under these cir- 
cumstances and in this way was Jefferson Davis going forth to 
perfect his escape. No bonnet, no gown, no petticoats, no crino- 
line ; nothing of all these ; and what there was happened to be 
excusable under ordinary circumstances, and perfectly natural as 
things were. 

" But it was too late for any effort to reach his horses, and the 
Confederate President was at last a prisoner in the hands of the 
United States." 




L^ CEN, T. J. JACKSON, 



OOK^TEIsrTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

FIRST STEPS TO FAME. 

An Anxious Visitor — Obstacles overcome — The Journey of Life com- 
menced — A Di-eary Marcli — Perseverance rewarded — Our Hero's 
Birth and Parentage — His Early Life — He becomes a Student at 
"West-Point — Slow at Study — Futile Attempt to play the Flute — 
Specimens of Eccentricities — He Graduates — Class-Mates — Enters 
the Army — Proceeds to Mexico — Promoted for his Bravery — In- 
stances of Gallantry — Retires frofQ the Army — Becomes Professor 
of Mathematics at Lexington, Va. — Escapes Assassination — Married 
— Becomes a Widower — Married a Second Time — Religious Teach- 
ings and Counsel, 11 

CHAPTER IL 

THE UPPER POTOMAC. 

Jackson resigns his Professorship and joins the Confederate Army 
— Becomes a Colonel — Joms Johnston's Forces on the Fpper Po- 
tomac — Rebel Evacuation of Harper's Ferry — Scenes of Devastation 
— ^Encounter with Patterson at Falling Waters — Jackson's First 
Display of Strategetic Ability — Johnston eludes Patterson and joins 
Beauregard — Jackson made a Brigadier-General, . , • .2? 

CHAPTER ni. 

THE BATTLE OP BULL RUN. 

Jackson's Position at the Opening of the Battle — His Timely Appear- 
ance upon the Principal Scene — Origin of the Sobriquet "Stone- 
wall" — Description of the Main Battle-Ground — ^Desperate Position 
of the Confederates — Terrible Conflicts between the Opposing Forces 
— Gallantry of Jackson's Brigade — ^The Federals finally repulsed — 
They become Panic-Stricken — Reasons why they were not pursued 
by the Rebels — ^Beauregard's Official Remarks on Jackson's Heroism 
— His Appearance on the Field of Battle, ,a ._ • • ♦ -SI 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

WINTER CAMPAIGN ON THE UPPER POTOMAC. 

Lull in Military Proceedings — Jackson placed in Command on the 
Upper Potomac — March to Hancock— Severity of the Weather and 
Suffering of the Troops — Skirmish at Bath — Engagement at Han- 
cock — Results of the Expedition — Jackson's Energy as a Commander 
— His Endurance of Fatigue — Illustrations of his Piety, . . .41 

CHAPTER V. 

THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER. 

Jackson retires from the Upper Potomac — Skirmish at Blue's Gap — 
Encounter at Blooming Gap — Death of General Lander — Harper's 
Ferry reoccnpied by the Federals — Advance of General Banks to 
Winchester — Skirmishes before the Battle — Country around Win- 
chester — Openiug of the Engagement — Terrific Conflict near a 
Stone Wall — The Confederates finally repulsed — Numbers and 
Losses of the Combatants, 49 

CHAPTER YL 

CAMPAIGN IN THE VALLEY OP THE SHENANDOAH — RETREAT OP GENERAL BANKS. 

Retreat of Jackson up the Valley — Federal Plans to capture him — 
Battle of McDowell — Compels Banks to retreat — Battle of Front 
Royal — Alarm of General Banks at Strasburgh — He commences a . 
rapid Retreat — Disasters by the Way — Exciting Scenes in Winchester 
—Second Battle of Winchester— Safe Arrival of the Federals in Mary- 
land — Estimate of Losses, 62 

CHAPTER VIL 

VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH — FEDERAL PURSUIT OF JACKSON. 

Excitement in the North — Federal Plan to capture Jackson — Attack on 
Harper's Ferry — Front Royal recovered — Fremont and Shields pursue 
Jackson— Death of General Ashby— Battle of Cross Keys— Port Re- 
public — Jackson escapes his Pursuers — Discomforts of Fremont's 
March — The Valley Devastated — Jackson's Devotional Habits, . 80 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THB SETE:? days' battles BEFORE RICHMOND. 

Jackson created a Major-General — McClellan Lands upon the Peninsula 
Occupation of Yorktown — Williamsburgh— Hanover Court-House 



CONTENTS. 7 

— Seven Pines — Fair Oaks — Stuart's celebrated Raid — Position and 
Number of the Opposing Forces— First Day : Battle of Oak Grove 
— Confederate Council of War — Skcond Day : Battle of Mechanics- 
ville— Third Day: Battle of Gaines's Mill—The Battle-Ground— 
Jackson's Attack on the Federal Rear — The River crossed by the 
Federal Right Wing — Council of War — Fourth Day : Battle of Gar- 
nett's Farm — Fifth Day : Battle of Peach Orchard — Battle of Sav- 
age's Station — Sixth Day : Battle of White Oak Swamp — Battle of 
Glendale — Seventh Day: Battle of Malvern Hill — Losses of the 
Combatants — ^Importance of Jackson's Services during the Week, . 94 

CHAPTER IX. 
the campaign against general pope. 
Organization of Pope's Army — His Address and Orders to his Troops 
— Strength of his Army — Confederate Plan to crush him — Com- 
mences to advance — He is opposed by Jackson — Battle of Cedar 
Mountain — Narrow Escapes — Jackson's Official Report — Losses in 
the Battle — ^The Field of Operations removes to near Washington — 
Pope retires behind the Rappahannock — Stuart's Cavalry Raid — 
Pope's Papers captured — Jackson's March upon the Federal Right 
Flank — Reaches Manassas Junction — Feast of his Famished Soldiers 
— Pope's Project to capture him — Critical Position of Jackson — 
Battle of Groveton — Jackson reenforced by Lee and Longstreet — 
Second Battle of Bull Run — Federal Defeat — Pope retires to Cen- 
tre ville — Battle at Chantilly — Jackson's Share in the Campaign, . 129 

CHAPTER X. 

the invasion of MARYLAND. 

The Federals retire within the Lines of Washington — Resignation of 
Pope — Appointment of McClellan — Jackson leads the Way into Mary- 
land — Enters Frederick — Incidents during its Occupation — Lee's Pro- 
clamation — Jackson marches upon Harper's Ferry — Maryland Heights 
abandoned — Harper's Ferry bombarded — ^Its Surrender — Jackson's 
Report of the Capture — Federal Inquiry into the Cause of Surrender 
— ^Battle of South-Mountain — Battle of Antietani — The Battle-ground 
and Positions of the Combatants — Terrific Contest between Jackson 
and Hooker — Change in the Scene of Conflict — The Losses— Jackson 
demolishes Thirty Miles of Railroad — Affair at Blackford's Ford, . 154 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE BATTLE OP FREDERICKSBURGH. 

Jackson's Antagonists — Burnside supersedes McClellan — The Army of 
the Potomac marches to the Rappahannock — The Battle-Ground — 
The Federals cross the River — Positions of the two Commanders — 
Advance of Franklin — Heroism of a Confederate Oflacer — Opening 
of the Battle — Sublimity of the Scene — Attack on the Fortifications 
— The Field of Death — The Combat described — ^Reserves brought 
into Action— The Losses — Councils of Waj— The River recrossed, .111 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE BATTLE OP CHANCELLOiRSVILLE. 

Jackson created Lieutenant-General — Burnside'o proposed Operations — 
Hooker placed in Command of the Army of the Potomac — Winter 
Quarters — Movements against Fredericksburgh — The Rappahannock 
crossed — Hooker reaches Chancellorsville — Description of the Place 
— Lee's and Jackson's Movements — Arrival at Chancellorsville — 
Jackson's Celebrated Attack upon the Federal Flank — Receives his 
Death-Wound — A Federal Officer's Interview with Jackson — Subse- 
quent Engagements — Losses in the Battles — Lee's Estimate of Jack- 
son's Abilities, .193 

CHAPTER XIIL 

LAST MOMENTS AND OBSEQUIES. 

Jackson's Daily Condition after being Wounded — He is attended by 
Mrs. Jackson — Ilis Last Remarks — His Death — General Lee's Order 
to the Army — Jackson's Successor — The Remains reach Richmond — 
Received with Public Honors and lie in State — Arrive in Lexington 
—The Funeral, 216 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE SOLDIER AND THE MAN. 

Jackson's Military Career an Episode in the Rebellion — Compared with 
the Puritan Leaders of England — Resemblance to Havelock — North- 
ern Appreciation of his Gallantry — Qualities as a Commander — 
*' Mystery the Secret of Success " — Firmness under Fire — Love of 
Truth — Hatred of Flattery — Alleged Unfitness for Separate Com- 



CONTENTS. 9 

mand — Admiration of General Lee — Personal Appearance and Habits 
— Estimates of Jackson's Character — ^Viewed from a Northern Stand- 
point, 229 

CHAPTER Xy. 

THE CHRISTIAN HERO. 

Jackson's Religious Habits — Returns Public Thanks to God for Victory 
— Seeks Guidance in Prayer — His Missionary Spirit — Services before 
the *' Stonewall Brigade " — Secret Prayer — Religious Condition of 
Jackson's Army — A Revival among the Soldiers — Letter of General 
Jackson on Sabbath Mails and Despatches — Hying Exclamations, .251 

CHAPTER XVL 

INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. 

Jackson's Peculiarities subject him to Caricature — Military Discipline 
at Lexington — War Means Fighting — Secrecy — Going to the Com- 
missary — An Inquisitive Friend — A Ruse — Coolness — Sambo's 
Prisoner — An Irish Rebel — A Watery Wish — Daily Work — Abhor- 
rence of Sectional Hate — Double Rations — " Old Jackson always 
Moving " — Poking about — Crossing the Potomac — Surrounded — ^An 
Incentive to Victory — The Observed of all Observers — " No Great 
Shakes, after all " — A Federal Captain's Opinion — An Equestrian 
Compliment — ^Experiences on Horseback — " Jackson Resigned " — 
Headquarters and their Attractions — ^Playing with Children — Visit 
to Jackson in Camp, 2G1 

CHAPTER XVn. 

THE FOOT- C AVAL RT. 

Why called the " Foot Cavalry " — The old " Stonewall " Brigade — 
Doubts about the Name — A Parting Scene — The Greatest Marcher 
in the World— No Excuses permitted — Obedience to Orders — A Col- 
ored Thermometer — Jackson's Army not to be found by the Federals 
— A Cause of Reverse — The Army in Repose — Sports and Pastimes 
of Camp-life — "Old Jack" extremely popular — A Talk with the 
General — DisaiFection of OflScers — Discipline — Characteristics of the 
old "Stonewall" Brigade, . 281 



LIFE OF 

LIEUT.-GEN. THOMAS J. JACKSON. 



CHAPTER I. 

FIRST STEPS TO FAME. 

An Anxious Visitor — Obstacles overcome — The Journey of Life com- 
menced — A Dreary March — Perseverance rewarded — Our Hero's Birth 
and Parentage — His Early Life — He becomes a Student at West-Point — 
Slow at Study — Futile Attempt to play the Flute — Specimens of Eccen- 
tricities — He Graduates — Class-Mates — Enters the Army — Proceeds to 
Mexico — Promoted for his Bravery — Instances of Gallantry — Retires 
from the Army — Becomes Professor of Mathematics at Lexington, Va. — 
Escapes Assassination — Married — Becomes a Widower — Married a Second 
Time — Religious Teachings and Counsel. 

On a terribly wet day in the year 1842, an ambitious 
youth of nineteen, whose ardor was not to be damped by 
the cold rain which was streaming from his clothes, rushed 
in a state of great excitement into the office of a gentleman 
who resided in one of the villages of Western Virginia. 

"What brings you hither, my friend, in such a pitiless 
storm?" anxiously inquired the gentleman, starting and 



12 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

wondering at tlie unexpected appearance of his youthful 
acquaintance. 

The young man in breathless haste, immediately ex- 
plained the nature of his errand. He was flushed with that 
military ardor which so often betokens a spirit of ambition 
that will yield to no rebuff, and is capable of battling 
against every obstacle. 

A presentation to the military academy at West-Point 
had been offered to, but declined by a boy in the neighbor- 
hood. Our young aspirant was seized with an eager desire 
to obtain this presentation. His uncle with whom he re- 
sided — for he was an orphan — had fruitlessly attempted to 
dissuade him from pursuing the application. His friends 
had in vain pointed out to him the deficiencies of his educa- 
tion, and that he was already three years in advance of the 
age at which pupils are usually admitted. He was fully 
alive to these drawbacks, but notliing daunted, he deter- 
mined to attempt to carry out the project upon which he 
had set his heart. 

With a buoyant spirit he had entered the office of his 
friend, and he now sought from him a letter of introduction 
to Mr. Hayes, the member of Congress for the district, who 
was then in Washington. His friend was intimately ac- 
quainted with Mr. Hayes, and it was in the latter's power 
to obtain the cadetship for the applicant. The difficulties 
which beset the young man's path were again pointed out 
to him. His friend regarded his scheme as an utter absurd- 
ity, and not only plainly told him that he could never 



FIKST STEPS TO FAME. 13 

successfully pass the preliminary examination, but added 
many other discouraging remarks. The ambitious youth 
had prepared himself for this ordeal, he was hopeful and 
importunate, and eventually obtahied the coveted letter. 

Armed with this document, he determined to depart for 
the National Capital without delay. Procrastination has 
stood in the way of many a man's advancement in life. Of 
this slothful habit our youthful hero was innocent. One 
day's, or even one hour's delay might enable some more 
fortunate applicant to step in, and obtain the appointment. 
That night a stage started on its regular eastern journey 
from the neighboring town of Clarksburgh. To enable the 
youth to reach that place in time to avail himself of 
this conveyance, he borrowed a horse, and with a negro 
boy, who was to bring the steed safely back to its owner, 
]3erched behind him, he commenced his travels upon what 
in after years turned out to be the road to renown. 

For many weeks Western Virginia had been visited by 
heavy rains — ^by such rains as can fall only in those moun- 
tainous regions — and the roads were consequently rendered 
all but impassable. But little business was then transacted 
in those regions, and few people travelled in those days, 
and in such weather. The postmaster of Clarksburgh con- 
sidered it of little moment whether he dispatched the stage 
with the mail-bags either an hour before or after the ap- 
pointed time. When our young traveller arrived in the 
town he found, much to his discomfiture, that the ofiicial 
had on this occasion adopted the first exception from tho 



14 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

proper rule, and the unwieldy stage had commenced its 
weary journey upon the toilsome roads a full hour before 
the usual time. We do not know how often this convey- 
ance then left Clarksburgh, but it was most probably 
only once a week. As the delay, which would occur if 
he waited until its next time of starting, might be fatal 
to the young man's prospects, no inducement could tempt 
him from the endeavor to overtake the vehicle. Therefore, 
dispatching the negro boy home with the borrowed horse, 
he set off in pursuit, on foot, over a dreadfully muddy 
road, and after a toilsome march of thirteen miles on this 
dark stormy night, he overtook the conveyance. 

How far the stage carried him we are unable to state. 
However, it is evident that he did not indulge in this mode 
of travelling all the way to Washington, for it is certain 
that he made the greater part of his long journey on foot, 
carrying his scanty wardrobe in his hand. Arriving at the 
Capital, our youthful aspirant, " all muddy as he was," pre- 
sented his letter to Mr. Hayes, who received him kindly, 
and in his turn presented him to the Secretary of War, who 
granted the much coveted presentation, and thus rewarded 
him for his praiseworthy ambition and perseverance. 

The youth whom we liave depicted as thus mounting the 
first step in the ladder of life, was destined many years 
afterwards to play a very important part in the terrible 
war which has shaken the country to its foundations, and 
has fearfully devastated his native State. His name was 



FIRST STEPS TO FAME. 15 

Thomas Jonathan, but history will record it as "Stone- 
wall," Jackson. Why history will thus speak of him, we 
shall mention hereafter. 

He was born on January 21st, 1824, in the town of 
Clarksburgh, already named, in Harrison County, Virginia. 
His grandfather, Edward Jackson, had been surveyor of 
the neighboring county of Lewis, which he for a long time 
represented in the State Legislature. His father, Jonathan 
Jackson, moved to Clarksburgh, where he studied and com- 
menced the practice of law with his cousin. Judge John G. 
Jackson. He acquired considerable reputation in his pro- 
fession, and married a daughter of Thomas Neale, of Wood 
County. He died in 1827, leaving four children — two sons 
and two daughters — of whom our hero, then three years old, 
was the youngest. Misfortune had overtaken the father 
before his death, and all his property had been swept away 
to meet the failures of unfaithful friends. The children 
were therefore thrown penniless upon the world. Soon 
after the death of his parents, young Jackson was taken to 
the home of an uncle in Lewis County, the family home- 
stead of the Jacksons in which his father had been born. 
During the time of the residence with his uncle, he labored 
on the farm in summer, and for three months in the winter 
went to school, where he gained the rudiments of a plain 
English education, the small stock of learning which he 
possessed when he was seized with the desire to obtain the 
cadetship at West-Point. His habits of life, even at this 
early age, are said to have been grave and serious, his dis- 



16 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

charge of every duty conscientious and complete. He 
assisted his uncle in the management of the farm ; and soon 
secured among the residents of the county a high character 
for industry, intelligence, and probity. His orphan condi- 
tion excited great sympathy among the neighbors, who 
knew and respected the good character of the Jackson 
family; and every assistance was rendered him in his 
struggle to carve out his own pathway in life, and secure 
an honorable independence. A proof of this sympathy is 
contained in the fact that at the age of sixteen^ he was elect- 
ed constable of the county of Lewis, the duties of which 
office he discharged with intelligence and credit. 

The future hero entered upon his studies at West-Point, 
three years in advance of his class-mates, but in every other 
respect far behind them. A shy and bashful youth, he 
took his place among them, just old enough to feel his own 
deficiencies in education and social position. In the four 
years of his study at the Military Academy, he was a plod- 
ding, persevering student, systematically mastering the 
task of yesterday, before he undertook that of to-day ; and 
slowly but surely working his way by hard application to a 
respectable, if not a leading position amongst his fellow- 
students. It is stated that he was so slow in his studies, 
that it took him three times as long to master his tasks as 
the average of the other pupils ; but what he did learn he 
learned thoroughly. 

Whilst young Jackson was at the Academy, his disposi- 



riEST STEPS TO FAME. 17 

tion was retiring and taciturn, but his face would brighten 
uj) Avith a pleasant smile whenever he entered into conver- 
sation. In illustration of the difficulty which he experienced 
in learning any thing, we may relate an anecdote told by 
General Seymour. During the time that the latter and 
Jackson were both young lieutenants, Seymour amused 
himself by learning to play the flute, which instrument 
Jackson also felt an inclination to learn. To accomplish 
this he went to work with his accustomed vigor and perse- 
verance ; but he was never enabled to master even the most 
simple air, and at last gave up his attentions to the goddess 
of music, after having for six months unsuccessfully courted 
her in an attempt to master the first bar of " Love N'ot." 
It is evident that he had " no music in himself," and, if 
Shakspeare is to be believed, he was, in this respect at 
least, " fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils." 

Many curious anecdotes are related of the peculiarities 
exhibited by the young student, during his stay at West- 
Point. It is stated that he used to fancy that he suffered 
from consumption, and that he should die a painful death. 
He was also possessed with the notion that he was in dan- 
ger of having his limbs paralyzed, and he would pump on 
his arm for many minutes, coimting the strokes, and feeling 
annoyed beyond measure whenever his companions inter- 
ruj)ted him in his count. He was accustomed to sit upright 
at his meals, and had a curious way of holding up his head 
very straight, whilst his chin would appear as if it were 
trying to get up to the top of his head. Another of his 



18 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

eccentricities was a remarkable precision as to the time he 
took his meals, and he was so particular in this respect that 
he would lay his watch before him on the table at the hour of 
meal, and if the latter was not ready at the precise moment 
appointed, he would obstinately refuse to partake of it. 

The accustomed period of four years' study at West-Point 
having terminated, Jackson graduated on June thirtieth, 
1846. He was the seventeenth in a class of fifty-nine. Proba- 
bly at the outset every boy surpassed him, but he had now 
only sixteen who outstripped him, and a joke prevailed 
among his comrades that, so great was his perseverance, had 
he had ten years to study instead of four, he would have be- 
come the head of the whole class. His sterling character 
had gained him the esteem of his masters, his unpretending 
merit and steady perseverance had won the admiration of 
his comrades. In spite of his ungainly appearance, his 
unpolished manners, and his -' slow " capacities, he had 
overcome all prejudices, and had quickly secured the affec- 
tion and respect of his contemporaries. 

The class of 1846 has been considered the most remark- 
able of any that ever graduated from the Academy. By a 
strange coincidence there appear in its list the names of 
McClellan, Stoneman, Foster, Sturges, Couch, Reno, Sey- 
mour, and many others who have become distinguished 
during the present conflict. 

Immediately after young Jackson had graduated at West- 
Point, he entered the army of the United States as a Brevet 



FIRST STEPS TO FAME. W 

Second Lieutenant of the First artillery, and received his 
full commission on the succeeding third of March. Among 
the officers of the First artillery at this period were the follow- 
ing military men who either have taken, or at the present time 
are taking prominent parts in the present war. On the side 
of the North, Justin Dimick, W. H. French, J. Hooker, L 
McDowell, J. B. Ricketts, J. M. Brannan, Seth Williams, 
Abner Doubleday, E. C. Boynton, T. Seymour, and others ; 
and on the side of the South, J. H. Winder, J. B. Magruder, 
J. W. Mackall, A. P. Hill, and others. 

At the commencement of the campaign in Mexico, Jack- 
eon proceeded to that country, as one of the officers of Ma- 
gruder's battery. He took part in all the battles of that 
campaign, and was several times rewarded with promotion 
for his gallant and meritorious conduct therein. For the 
bravery which he displayed in the battles of Contreras and 
Cherubusco he was raised to the rank of Lieutenant on 
August twentieth, 1847, with the additional brevet rank of 
Captain, which bore the same date, but which was not award- 
ed until August of the following year. He so much further 
distinguished himself at the battle of Chepultepec on the 
thirteenth of September, 1847, that in March, 1849, he re- 
ceived the brevet rank of Major — the commission for which 
was dated from the day on wliich the action took place. 
The Army Register and the actual history and fxcts of the 
Mexican war do not furnish the name of another person 
entering that war without position or office who attained 



20 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

the high rank of Major in the brief campaign and series of 
battles from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico. 

Several instances are recorded of the gallantry Avhich was 
displayed by Jackson at the battle of Chepultepec. Magru- 
der being a man of remarkably intemperate habits, it almost 
invariably happened that during the Mexican campaign, the 
chief command of his battery devolved on Lieutenant Jack- 
son. Upon the eve of this battle Jackson, who then had 
charge of the battery, was advancing with it toward the 
scene of the following day's engagement, when, on turning 
a bend of the road, he found his progress arrested by a bat- 
tery of four guns which the Mexicans had planted behind a 
small earth-work. A fight ensued, in which every horse and 
man in Jackson's command were killed or wounded, he only 
being left unharmed. The Mexicans rushed upon the bat- 
tery, but the young officer would not leave his guns, when 
fortunately his enemies were suddenly outflanked, and com- 
pelled to retire in great haste, leaving him in indisputable 
possession thereof. 

It is also related that at the battle of Chepultepec, Jackson 
was ordered by Pillow, to whose division Magruder's bat- 
tery was attached, to withdraw his section, as his superior 
officer considered that it was too much exposed. He gave 
no heed, however, to the General's order, but rapidly lim- 
bered up, and moved his guns a hundred yards nearer the 
enemy's works, on which he did great execution. 

Another anecdote related of Jackson's behavior in this 
engagement states that, upon the Fourteenth regular infant- 



FIRST STEPS TO FAME. 21 

ry being oi'dered to charge up a road, the men seemed dis- 
inclined to advance, in consequence of the heavy fire to 
which they were exposed. Jackson, upon perceiving this, 
stepped forward amid a shower of missiles and exclaimed, 
*' You see, my men, there is no danger, follow me !" which 
daring act so inspired the troops that they immediately 
sprang forward to the charge. 

The gallantry displayed by the young soldier throughout 
the entire of the battle of Chepultepec was of such a nature 
as to gain for him special mention in the ofiicial despatches 
of the Commander-in-Chief; an honor which was not award- 
ed to any other officer. In these despatches General Scott 
alluded to him as " the brave Lieutenant Jackson." 

The career of a soldier in time of peace is so generally un- 
interesting and so unmarked by important events, that it is 
barren of interest to the public. The proceedings of to-day 
are almost a repetition of those of yesterday, and with the 
exception of the time occupied in the removal from fort to 
fort, the story of a day is but an epitome of a soldier's life 
at such a time. For the three or four years that succeeded 
the Mexican war, Jackson's life was no exception to this 
general rule. 

On February twenty-ninth, 1852, Jackson retired from the 
army of the United States, having served therein nearly six 
years. After his retirement he took up his residence in his 
native State of Virginia, and became a Professor of Matlie- 
matics in the Military College of Lexington in that State. 



22 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Althousfh he had a very fine class of pupils, his services at 
this establishment were not very conspicuous. Colonel Gil- 
ham was conflidered as the military genius of the school, and 
Jackson was but little thought of by the small hero-wor- 
shippers of Lexington. He was devoutly religious in all 
his actions, and stern in the performance of his duties; 
and, as is too often the case with such professors, he 
was not viewed with much favoritism by his pupils. 

During the period of his professorship Jackson had a 
narrow escape from assassination, the consummation of 
which he averted by his great coolness and fearlessness of 
death. The person by whom his life was threatened was a 
cadet who had been dismissed from the institution. The 
youth actually went to the extremity of lying in wait for 
him on the road leading from the Institute to the village. 
As Jackson, in his accustomed walk toward the village, 
approached the spot where his enemy awaited him, a by- 
stander called out to him of his danger. " Let the assassin 
murder if he will," replied the Professor, as he walked in 
the most unconcerned manner toward the young man, who 
slunk abashed from his path. 

Perhaps none of the acquaintances of Jackson were more 
surprised at his brilliant exhibition of genius in this war, 
than were those who knew his blank life at the Institute, 
and were familiar with the stiff and uninteresting figure 
that was to be seen every Sunday in a pew of the Presby- 
terian church at Lexington. But true genius awaits occa- 
sion commensurate with its power and aspiration. The 



FIRST STEPS TO FAME. 23 

epirit of Jackson was trained in another school than that of 
West-Point or Lexington, and had it been confined there it 
never would have illuminated the page of history. How 
peculiarly appropriate, in such a case, would these oft-quoted 
lines of Gray's Elegy have applied to him : 

" Full many a gem, of purest ray serene, 

The dark, mifathomed caves of ocean bear ; 
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 

During the time of Jackson's residence in Lexington, he 
became connected with the Presbyterian church of that place. 
Of this denomination he was an earnest member, and, in 
fact, throughout his future life he displayed those eminently 
religious qualities which so elevate man in the estimation of 
his fellow-beings, but which are so rarely found in the camp 
or on the battle-field. He held the position of a deacon in 
the church to which he belonged, and participated in its 
councils. 

Whilst residing in Lexington, he became acquainted with 
the family of the Rev. George Jimkin, D.D., whose daughter 
he married in the year 1853. But, unfortunately, in the fol- 
lowing year, the occurrence of an event which usually adds 
to the ha]3piness of a married life was to him a source of sor- 
row, and deprived hhn not only of his wife, but of the infant 
ofispring she had borne him. 

Jackson was married a second time in the year 1857 
to a daughter of the Rev. Dr. Morrison, a Presbyterian 



24 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

minister, and President of Davidson College, North- 
Carolina, by whom he had one child, who was about six 
months old at the time of its father's death. Another 
daughter of this gentleman was married to the Con- 
federate General D. H. Hill; the two chieftains were 
therefore nearly related. 

Jackson was, during his professorship, not only a reg- 
ular teacher in the Sabbath-school, but wherever Christ- 
ian aid and counsel were required, wherever the sick and 
sorrowing claimed sympathy, or religious instruction was 
necessary, he was at hand. Among the negroes, seldom 
was such a patient, zealous friend to be found as " Mass' 
Thomas." Every Sabbath he assembled the little darkies 
to hear and learn the word of God. Nor was his anx- 
iety for their welfare confined to his own household; for 
wherever his influence could be exerted for the spiritual 
and moral progress of the negro, his voice was heard. 



CHAPTEE II. 

THE UPPER POTOMA.C. 

Jackson resigns his Professorship and joins the Confederate Army — Be- 
comes a Colonel — Joins Johnston's Forces on the Upper Potomac — 
Rebel Evasuation of Harper's Ferry — Scenes of Devastation — Encounter 
with Patterson at Falling Waters — Jackson's First Display of Strategetic 
Ability — Johnston eludes Patterson and joins Beauregard — Jackson made 
a Brigadier-General. 

At the commencement of the Rebellion, Jackson was busi- 
ly engaged with his professional duties at Lexiugton, and it 
was not until the secession of his State that he resigned his 
peaceful occupation for the hazards and excitements of a 
soldier's iife. Like his celebrated companion in arms, 
General Lee, he was a theoretical Unionist up to the very 
date of Virginia's secession, struggling long in deciding be- 
tween his duty to his countiy and his devotion to his State ; 
and it was oaly when his own State drew the sword that he 
determined to follow her fortunes. This occurred at the 
latter end of April, 1861. His first command was a regi- 
ment of infantry, which he drilled so quickly, and yet so 
perfectly, that he was enabled to rely upon it at any mo- 
ment. He was commissioned Colonel by the Governor of 
Virginia, and was with his regiment attached to the forces 
of General Johnston on the Upper Potomac. 
2 



26 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

It will be remembered thcat on the nineteenth of April, 
shortly after the commencement of the Rebellion, the Fede- 
rals evacuated Harper's Ferry, after partially destroying the 
public works and armory there situated. Around this place — 
Avhich is of historic interest from its having been the scene 
of that insurrection, small in itself but great in the influ- 
ences it created, which in 1859 caused the name of John 
Brown to become celebrated in song and renowned in story — 
nature has lavished a wild beauty. On every side are seen 
the lofty ridges of the Blue Mountains, pierced at one bold 
point by the Potomac and the Shenandoah, whilst the rail- 
road which here crosses the former stream, acts as a connect- 
ing-link between this bold mountain scenery and the great 
cities of the East and the West. It was in the neighborhood 
of these scenes that Jackson gathered the first leaves of that 
laurel-wreath with which his memory is now crowned. 

The demonstrations of the Federal army in the Valley of 
Virginia were of such a nature that it was considered ne- 
cessary to thwart them by the falling back of the Confed- 
erate army from Harper's Ferry to Winchester. General 
Patterson's approach was expected by the great route into 
the Valley from Pennsylvania and Maryland, leading through 
Winchester ; and it was an object of the utmost importance 
to the Confederates that they should prevent any junction 
between his forces and those of General McClellan, who 
was already making his way from Western Virginia to the 
upper portions of the Valley. On the morning of the thir- 
teenth of June, information was received from Winchester 



THE UPPER POTOMAC. 27 

that Romney was occupied by two thousand Federal troops, 
supposed to be the vanguard of McClellan's army. A de- 
tachment was therefore despatched by railroad to check tho 
Union advance ; and on the morning of the fifteenth, the 
Confederate army left Harper's Ferry for Winchester. 

The Rebels found it necessary the next morning to retire 
from their possession of the Ferry, and their destruction 
of the buildings, which had been left unscathed at the 
time of the evacuation of the place by the Federals, brought 
one of those wild, fearful scenes which make the desolation 
that grows out of war. This devastation is thus described : 
" The splendid railroad-bridge across the Potomac — one of 
the most superb structures of its kind on the continent — 
was set on fire at its northern end, while about four hundred 
feet at its southern extremity was blown up, to prevent the 
flames from reaching other works which it was necessary to 
save. Many of the vast buildings were consigned to the 
flames. Some of them were not only large but very lofty, 
and crowned with tall towers and spires, and Ave may be 
able to fancy the sublimity of the scene, when more than a 
dozen of these huge fabrics crowded into a small space 
were blazing at once. So great was the heat and smoke, 
that many of the troops were forced out of the town, and 
the necessary labors of the removal were performed with 
the greatest difficulty." 

The Confederates received information on the day after 
their evacuation of Harper's Ferry, that General Patterson's 
army had crossed the Potomac at Williamsport ; also that 



28 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

the Federal force at Homiiey had fallen back. The Rebels 
were therefore ordered to gain the Martinsbnrgh turnpike 
by a flank movement to Bunker's Hill, in order to place 
themselves between Winchester and the expected advance 
of Patterson. On learning this, the Federals immediately 
re-crossed the river. Resuming his first direction and plan, 
General Johnston proceeded to Winchester, so that his army 
might be in a position to oppose either General McClellan 
from the west, or Patterson from the north-east, and to form 
a junction with General Beauregard when necessary. 

Intelligence having been received by the Confederates in- 
dicating a further movement by General Patterson, Colonel 
Jackson Avith a brigade was sent to the neighborhood of 
Martinsbnrgh to support Colonel Stuart, who had been 
placed in observation Avith his cavalry on the line of the 
Potomac. On the second of July, Patterson again crossed 
the river, and Colonel Jackson, pursuant to instructions, fell 
back before him, but in retiring, he engaged the Federal 
advance at Falling Waters, with a battalion of the Fifth 
Virginia regiment and Pendleton's battery of field-artillery. 
Skilfully taking a position where the smallness of his force 
was concealed, he engaged the Federals for a considerable 
time, inflicted a heavy loss, and retired when about to be 
outflanked, scarcely losing a man, but bringing off forty-five 
prisoners. In this engagement, which was after all merely 
a skirmish, Jackson exhibited his ready-witted strategy, 
and concealed from his opponents the knowledge that they 
were fighting an insignificant force, skilfully disposed to 



THE UPPER POTOMAC. 29 

conceal their weakness, wliile Jolinston was making his dis- 
positions in the rear. The Confederate forces engaged in 
this action were four regiments of infantry and one regiment 
of cavahy, together with four pieces of artillery, mostly 
rifled. 

The Northern reports inform ns that between three and 
seven o'clock of the day in question, the Federal troops 
which had been concentrating at Hagerstown and Williams- 
port, Maryland, for several days previous, crossed the ford 
at the latter place. The morning was bright and beautiful, 
and the soldiers were in high spirits. The advancing force 
approached the enemy within a distance of seventy-five 
yards, and a brisk encounter ensued, without much loss on 
the Northern side. In anticipation of a retreat by the Fed- 
eral forces, the Confederates had levelled the fences on both 
sides of the turnpike even with the ground, so as to cut 
them off in the event of their retiring to the Potomac. 
The first stand was made at Parkerfield farm, near Haynes 
ville, where it was necessary to destroy a barn and other out- 
buildings, so that the Federals could make a charge upon 
the enemy. Here the conflict was fierce, the Rebels standing 
well up to their work, and finally, slowly retreating, knap- 
sacks and canteens being hastily thrown aside as incum- 
brances to a backward march, and blankets and other ar- 
ticles of value left behind. 

Ujion receipt of the intelligence that Jackson had found 
it necessary to retire before the advancing forces of General 
Patterson, the Confederate force at Winchester, strengthened 



30 



STONEWALL JACKSON. 



by recent arrivals, were ordered forward to his support. 
General Johnston took up a position within six miles of 
Martinsburgh, which town was now invested by the Feder- 
als, and for four days waited, with the expectation that he 
jnight be there attacked; but after being convinced that 
Patterson would not approach him, he returned to Win- 
chester. General Johnston having placed Colonel Stuart 
to watch the Federal General's proceedings, he became 
enabled by the seventeenth of July to penetrate Patterson's 
design, and to ascertain that his object was to keep him 
in check, while General McDowell could attack the forces 
of Beauregard at Manassas. Our readers will readily recol- 
lect the obloquy which fell upon the name of General Patter- 
son for his failure in the execution of that part of the military 
plan with which he was intrusted. Had he fulfilled his in- * 
structions, and prevented Johnston from uniting his forces 
to those of Beauregard, the story of the battle of Bull Run 
might perhaps have been told with a termination diiferent 
to that which is now appended to it in the pages oi 
history. 

The marks of active determination which Colonel Jackson 
displayed and the military skill which he exhibited in the 
engagement at Falling Waters, and in the short campaign | 
on the Upper Potomac, obtained for him promotion to the 
position of Brigadier-General. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE BATTLE OP BULL RUN. 

Jackson's Position at the Opening of the Battle — His Timely Apjearance 
upon the Principal Scene — Origin of the Sobriquet " Stonewall " — De- 
scription of the Main Battle-Ground — Desperate Position of the Confed- 
erates — Terrible Conflicts between the Opposing Forces -— Gallantry of 
Jackson's Brigade — The Federals finally Repulsed— They become Panic- 
Stricken — Reasons why they were not Pursued by the Rebels — Beau- 
regard's Official Remarks on Jackson's Heroism — His Appearance on the 
Field of Battle. 

The affair at Falling Waters was, after all, but the pro 
logue to the great military drama in which the subject of 
our memoir was to play so important a part. The scene of 
the first great act was the battle-field of Bull Run, or Man- 
assas, as it is termed by the people of the South. At this 
battle Jackson had the command of tlie First Virginia bri- 
gade, which consisted of five regiments, and the manner in 
which he handled this force, in several of the critical periods 
of the action, is considered by General Beauregard to have 
contributed largely to the Confederate success. 

Jackson's brigade was amongst the first of the forces of 
General Johnston who, after they had eluded Patterson, 
hastened to the support of General Beauregard at Manassas. 

At the opening of the engagement, shortly after dawn, 



32 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

on July twenty-first, Jackson was placed as a support to 
(reneral Bonliam, who was detailed to guard Mitchell's 
Ford. About half-past seven o'clock a.m., his brigade was 
deployed along with Imboden's, and five pieces of Walton's 
battery, to take up a position along Bull Run. In the heat 
of the forenoon's engagement, when the Confederate forces 
were driven back, and the goddess of victory for the time 
seemed to smile upon the Union arms, the brigade under 
General Jackson got separated from Imboden's and Walton's 
comaiands ; but being afterward reunited, they took np 
another position below the brim of the plateau, nearly east 
of the Henry House, and to the left of a ravine and woods 
occupied by the mingled remnants of other commands. It 
was here that the battle was to rage so long and so furious- 
ly, and where for some time the Rebels had to fight desper- 
ately against fearful odds, so that they could hold their own 
until their reenforcements could reach them. 

Jacksou's timely arrival at this point, as we shall hereafter 
show, was considered by General Beauregard to have con- 
tributed greatly to the change in the fortune of war, which 
was shortly to be experienced by the Confederates. It also 
gave to his troops an opportunity of winning for themselves 
a renown and an imperishable name. Jackson felt every 
confidence in the prowess of his force, and the reply which, 
upon this field, he made to Ms Commanding General, 
obtained for him that sobriquet which history will ever 
connect with his name. Beauregard fancying that his troops 
were raw, asked Jackson if he thought that they would be 



THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN". 33 

likely to stand. " Yes," replied he, " like a stone wall.'* 
But Jackson, with his usual modesty, ever after insisted 
that the name which has now become a type of valor be- 
longed properly to the brigade which he commanded and 
not to its commander. 

The topographical features of the plateau, now the stage 
of the contending armies, is thus described by General 
Beauregard, in his Rei^ort of the day's proceedings. " A 
glance at the map will show that it is inclosed on three sides 
by small water-courses, which empty into Bull Run within a 
few yards of each other, half a mile to the south of the Stone 
Bridge. Rising to an elevation of quite one hundred feet 
above the level of Bull Run at the bridge, it falls off on 
three sides to the level of the inclosing streams in gentle 
slopes, but which are furrowed by ravines of irregular 
direction and length, and studded with clumps and patches 
of young pines and oaks. The general direction of the crest 
of the plateau is oblique to the course of Bull Run in that 
quarter, and on the Brentsville and turnpike roads which 
intersect each other at right angles. Completely surround- 
ing the two houses before mentioned, (as being situated 
upon this plateau,) are small open fields of irregular out- 
line, and exceeding one hundred, and fifty acres in extent. 
The houses occupied at the time — the one by Widow 
Henry, and the other by the free negro Robinson — are 
small wooden buildings, densely embowered in trees, and 
environed by a double row of fences on two sides. Around 
the eastern and southern brim of the plateau, an almost 
3* 



34 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

unbroken fringe of second growth pines gave excellent 
shelter for our marksmen, who availed themselves of it 
with the most satisfactory skill. To the west, adjoining 
tlie fields, a broad belt of oaks extends directly across the 
crest on both sides of the Sudley Iload, in which, during 
the battle, regiments of both armies met and contended for 
the mastery. From the open ground of this plateau, the 
view embraces a wide expanse of woods and gently undulat- 
ing, open country of broad grass and grain-fields in all 
directions." 

Such are the general features and the surroundings of the 
spot for the possession of which, during this eventful day, the 
contending forces of the Federals and the Confederates dis- 
puted with varying success. Though the clangor of arms, 
the roll of musketry, and the roar of cannon indicated that 
the battle was raging far and wide, yet it was upon this 
stage that were enacted the most eventful scenes of the 
contest, and as it was principally in these scenes that 
General Jackson played his part in the drama of the day, 
they naturally form the only ones which come within the 
scope of our work. 

This plateau was, during the morning, occi^ied by a divi^ 
Bion of the Confederate army under General Bee, but shortly 
after mid-day it was dislodged therefrom by the Federals. 
Overwhelmed by the surging mass of Northern troops, which 
pressed heavily upon the Rebels, the lines of the latter fell 
back. As the shattered battalions retired, the slaughter was 
terrible. They fell back in the direction of the Robinson 



THE BATTLE OF BULL EUN". 85 

House, and were compelled to engage the Federals at seve- 
ral points in their retreat, losing both officers and men, in 
order to keep them from closing in around them. It was at 
this period of the battle that the telegraphic wires flashed 
the news of victory to the people of the North — news which 
was, alas, too soon to be followed by sinister intelligence of 
a defeat at once complete and disastrous. 

The retreat of the Confederates was finally arrested, just 
in rear of the liobinson House, by the energy and resolution 
of General Bee, assisted by the support of the Hampton Le- 
gion and the timely arrival of Jackson's brigade of five regi- 
ments. A moment before. General Bee had been well-nigh 
overwhelmed by superior numbers. He approached General 
Jackson with the pathetic exclamation, " General, they are 
beating us back ;" to which the latter promptly replied : 
" Sir, we'll give them the bayonet." General Bee immedi- 
ately rallied his overtasked troops with the words : " There 
is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Let us determine to 
die here, and we will conquer." 

The intentions of the Federals now became developed in 
the minds of the Commanding Generals, and they were en- 
abled to discern that the conflict which was raging in the 
vicinity of Mitchell's Ford was merely a feint, and that tha 
triumph of the day would have to be decided upon or around 
the plateau which has been described. Generals John- 
ston and Beauregard were four miles distant from this 
critical scene of action, having placed themselves upon a 
commanding hill to observe the movements. There could 



S6 -STONEWALL JACKSON. 

be no mistake now of the Federal intentions, from the 
violent firing on the left and the immense clouds of dust 
raised by the march of a large body of troops from their 
centre. 

At this important moment General Beauregard received 
information tliat certain instructions, which he had forwarded 
relative to an attack upon tlie Federal flank and rear at 
Ccntreville, had miscarried. It therefore now became neces- 
sary to depend on new combinations, and to meet the Na- 
tional forces upo,n the field on which they had chosen to 
give battle. It was plain that nothing but the most rapid 
combinations, and the most heroic and devoted courage on 
the part of the Rebel troops, could retrieve the field, which, 
according to all military conditions, appeared to be positive- 
ly lost. 

About noon, the scene of the battle is described as being 
utterly sublime. Not until then could one of the present 
generation, who had never witnessed a grand battle, have 
imagined such a spectacle. The hill occupied in the morn- 
ing by Generals Beauregard and Johnston and their re- 
spective stafi*s placed the whole scene before one — a grand, 
moving diorama. When the firing was at its height, the 
roar of artillery reached the hill like that of protracted thun- 
der. For one long mile, the whole valley was a boiling 
crater of dust and smoke. In the distance rose the Blue 
Ridge, to form the dark background of a most magnificent 
picture. 

The condition of the battle-field was now at least desper. 



THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 37 

ate for the Confederates, and their left flank being now over- 
powered, it became necessary to bring immediately np to 
their support the reserves not already in motion. Dashing 
on at headlong gallop, Generals Johnston and Beauregard 
reached the field of action not a moment too soon. They 
were instantly occupied with the reorganization of the 
troops, and the presence of the two commanders upon the 
field and under fire, had a most salutary effect npon the 
men, and order was soon restored. To reoccupy the pla- 
teau was now tlie object of the Confederates, and for this 
purpose they planted their artillery upon an open space of 
limited extent, behind a low undulation, just at the eastern 
verge of the plateau, some five hundred or six hundred 
yards from the Henry House, and upon a level with that 
held by the batteries of the Kational army. From the 
action of these guns, and from the galling fire of musketry 
placed nnder cover upon the right and left flank, the Fed- 
eral force sufi*ered so dreadfully that, according to the re- 
ports of its generals, regiment after regiment, which was 
thrown forward to dislodge the Tlebels, was broken, never to 
recover its entire organization on that field. 

In the mean time also two companies of Stuart's Rebel 
cavalry made a dashing charge down the Brentsville and 
Sudley road upon the New-York Fire Zouaves — then the 
Federal right on the plateau — which added t© the disorder 
which the Confederate musketry wrought on their flank. 
However, the Union forces still pressed the "Rebels lieavil;? 
in that quarter of the field, and threw out fresh troops to 
3 



38 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

outflank them. Some three guns of a battery belonging to 
tlie former, in an attempt to obtain here a position ap- 
parently to enfilade the batteries of the latter, were thrown 
so close to a regiment of Jackson's brigade that the sol- 
diers sprang forward and seized them witli severe loss, but 
tliey were subsequently driven back by an overpowering 
force of Federal musketry. 

At two o'clock in the afternoon, General Beauregard gave 
orders for the right of his line, except his reserves, to ad- 
vance to recover the plateau. It was done with uncommon 
resolution and vigor. At the same time Jackson's bri- 
gade pierced the Federal centre with the determination of 
veterans, but it suffered seriously. With equal spirit the 
other parts of the Kebel line made the onset, and the Fed- 
eral lines were broken and swept back at all points from 
the open ground of the plateau. The latter, however, soon 
strongly reenforced by fresh regiments, re-commenced tlie 
conflict, pressed the Confederate lines back, recovered their 
ground, and renewed the oflensive. 

Between half-past two and three o'clock p.m., the Con- 
federates were also strongly reenforced by troops pushed 
forward from the rear by General Johnston, who had about 
noon repaired thither for the purpose of despatching the 
reserves to those positions on the field of battle Avhcre they 
were most required. General Beauregard received these 
reenforcements just as he had ordered forward to a second 
eflbrt, for the recovery of the disputed plateau, the whole 
line, including his reserves. At this crisis of the battle, 



THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN-. 39 

he felt called upon to lead in person. The attack was 
general, and was shared in by every Rebel regiment then 
on the field. The Confederates again swept the whole 
ground clear of the Union forces, and the plateau around 
the Henry and Robinson houses remained finally in their 
possession. But this victory was purchased with the lives 
of General Bee, Colonel Bartow, and many ofiicers of dis- 
tinction in the Confederate army. 

The Rebels now, rapidly receiving the reinforcements 
which had been despatched from the rear under the direc- 
tion of General Johnston, and which included troops that 
had only arrived at noon by railroad from the Valley of 
the Shenandoah, commenced to dislodge the Federals from 
the adjoining woods, in which they swarmed. Having ac- 
complished this task, they commenced the pursuit of the 
Union army, which had become panic-stricken, and was in 
retreat. Being encumbered with prisoners which they had 
captured, a portion of the Confederate forces were com- 
pelled to desist from the pursuit, whilst the brigades of 
Generals Bonham and Longstreet followed the flying army 
nearly as far as Centreville, until night and darkness came 
on, when they retired from farther pursuit and returned 
to Bull Run. 

General Beauregard admits that his troops were so ex- 
hausted from the laborious operations of the day — operations 
which had to be performed under cover of a burning July sun, 
and without water and without food, except a meal hastily 
snatched at dawn — that a general pursuit upon that even- 



40 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

iiig was physically impossible ; whilst on the following day 
an unusually heavy and unintermitting fall of rain intervened 
to obstruct his advance with reasonable prospect of fruitful 
results. Added to this, he states that the want of a cavalry 
force of sufficient numbers, made an efficient pursuit a mili- 
tary impossibility. 

Among the panegyrics which the Confederate Commander 
passed upon the various officers of his army who specially 
distinguished themselves upon this eventful day, General 
Jackson's conduct, he stated to have been that of " an able, 
fearless soldier and sagacious commander, one fit to lead 
his brigade." He further said that " his efficient, prompt, 
timely arrival before the plateau of the Henry House, contri- 
buted much to the success of the day. Although painfully 
wounded in the hand, he remained on the field to the end 
of the battle, rendering invaluable assistance." 

With regard to Jackson's personal appearance at the bat- 
tle of Manassas, a Southern newspaper contained at the time 
some paragraphs which expressed great merriment at the 
first apparition of the future hero on the battle-field. His 
queer figure on horseback, and his habit of settling his chin 
in his stock, were also very amusing to some correspondents, 
who made flippant jests thereat in some of the Southern 
newspapers. These jests were, however, soon forgotten and 
forgiven in the tributes of admiration and love which after- 
ward ensued to the popular hero of the war. 



CHAPTER lY. 

WINTER CAMPAIGN ON THE UPPER POTOMAC. 

Lull in Military Proceedings — Jackson placed in Command on the Upper 
Potomac — March to Hancock — Severity of the Weather and Suffering of 
the Troops — Skirmish at Bath — Engagement at Hancock — Results of the 
Expedition — Jackson's Energy as a Commander — His Endurance of Fa- 
tigue — Blustrations of his Piety. 

Both the Federal and Confederate armies that held joint 
possession of the sacred soil of Virginia, were so prostrated 
by the extraordinary exertions which they had made dur- 
ing the day upon which was fought the memorable battle 
of Bull Run, that for many months to come, they felt little 
inclined to renew active operations. 

The Northern army, now placed under the charge of 
General McClellan, had little other occupation than the 
daily drill, and for a lengthened period the telegraphic 
wires flashed from its camp scarcely any intelligence of its 
proceedings beyond the well-worn and stereotyped phrase 
of " All quiet on the Potomac." If the military school 
masters in the Federal army now busied themselves in 
teaching " the young idea how to shoot," the Confederate 
preceptors were not the less active in imparting the neces 
sary rules of military science. General Jackson took ad- 



42 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

vantage of this period of abstinence from active operations 
to raise both officers and men under his command to a 
fitate of military discipline which their futm'e actions proved 
to have been of the highest order. 

The energy and abilities displayed by General Jackson 
at the battle of Bull Run, were sufficiently prominent to 
mark him out for a separate command. Consequently, dur- 
ing the closing days of 1861, he was despatched with a 
force of about ten thousand men, from General Johnston's 
line, to Winchester, for the purpose of watching and im- 
peding the progress of a portion of the Federal army, who 
were then in possession of the Upper Potomac, and who 
threatened the Valley of the Shenandoah. It has been con- 
sidered by a Southern writer, that had the same force been 
placed at his command in early autumn, " with the view to 
an expedition to Wheeling, by way of the Winchester and 
Parkersburgh road, the good effects would, in all proba- 
bility, have shown themselves in the expulsion of the Fed- 
erals from North- Western Virginia." Though the people 
of the North may dispute the accuracy of these presump- 
tions, it is needless at this date to cavil at them. 

At the commencement of 1862, portions of several Fed- 
eral regiments were quartered at Hancock, a small town on a 
bend of the Upper Potomac, at Bath, a village in Virginia, 
Bome six miles south of that place, and at other points con- 
tiguous to these two places. General Jackson was desirous 
of dislodghig the Union troops from these positions, which 
they evidently intended to hold throughout the remainder 



WINTER CAMPAIGN". 43 

of the winter. For this purpose, therefore, on the first of 
January, 1862, his command left Winchester and proceeded 
on the road toward Romney, a small town to the nortli- 
west of that place, when it filed to the right, and marched 
toward Morgan County. Though the weather on the first 
day of the march was pleasant, the second was remarkably 
cold, and the road to be traversed was so bad, that the 
wagons could not keep up with the trooj^s, which necessi- 
tated the men to lie out upon the ground, without covering, 
and to suffer from the want of food. The wagons, how- 
ever, came up on the following morning, and the troops, 
after partaking of breakfast, proceeded on their march, but 
continued to suffer from the severity of the weather. 

Another night was passed but with little rest ; after Avhich 
they proceeded on their journey, their sufferings being aug- 
mented by an increase in the coldness, to which was added a 
lieavy snow-storm. When within four miles of the town 
of Bath, they met and drove back a small Federal force. 
Shortly after this the Confederates encamped for the night, 
but it was such a night that few except those accustomed 
to the hardships of a soldier's life when on active service, 
have ever the misfortune to experience. Though snow, 
rain, and hail alternately fell the whole night upon the 
prostrate troops, who were compelled to endure the same 
without blankets or covering of any kind, they were so 
completely exhausted that they fell down before the blaz- 
ing fires which they had kindled, and slept soundly upon 
tl.e wet ground. Approaching Bath, on the following 



44 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

morning, they announced their arrival by a discharge of 
cannon upon that place, in which several Union troops had 
taken up their winter quarters. The Federals replied to 
this volley from two batteries, but on some of the Rebel 
troops being dej^loyed to charge these batteries, the sol- 
diers spiked their guns, and rapidly fell back to the banks 
of the Potomac, hotly pursued by Ashby's cavalry, followed 
by infantry and artillery. The Federals having reached 
the river-bank before the arrival of the Kebel cavalry, they 
placed themselves in ambush, and fired upon their pursuers, 
several of whom they seriously wounded. The latter then 
fell back upon the main body, who brought up their artil- 
lery and shelled the woods. 

Leaving a picket-guard, the Confederate forces retired to 
the rear, and encamped for the night. The intensity of the 
cold had increased so much that the soles of the troops on 
duty froze to the ground, and their suiFerings were truly 
terrible. On Sunday morning, January fifth, the Confed- 
erates advanced to the shores of the Potomac, from which 
they had been encamped only half a mile distant, and 
found themselves in front of the pretty little town of Han- 
cock, which was situated upon the Maryland side of the 
river. In this place the Federals were quartered in con 
siderable force. Upon his arrival. General Jackson sent 
a flag of truce, by Colonel Ashby, to the authorities of 
the town, notifying the inhabitants that they should vacate 
the place, as he intended to bombard it, and he gave 
them two hours to do so. In accordance with this demand, 



WINTER CAMPAIGN 45 

General Lander, who was in command of the town, at once 
removed all the non-combatants therefrom. At the expi- 
ration of the time, the Confederate batteries, which had 
been previously placed in position, opened fire, and the 
Federals replied thereto, but their shots fell short. The 
bombardment continued for about an hour, after whicli 
time the firing on both sides ceased for the day, little or no 
damage having been suffered by either party. As General 
Jackson desired to avoid burning the town, no shells were 
discharged for that purpose. 

On the following (Monday) morning, the Federals re- 
opened fire, their balls falling thickly among the Confed- 
erates, but doing little or no damage. The Rebels did not 
reply to this firing, but occupied themselves in carrying 
off army stores, clothing, and other property from the 
Commissary Department of the Federals, which was placed 
on the Virginia side of the Potomac. "While this was in 
progress a detachment of the Confederates was deployed to 
make a detour for the purpose of burning the Capon bridge, 
and tearing up the rails of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 
road. On their progress, however, they met and routed 
some Northern troops who were placed in ambush, after 
which they proceeded in their work of destruction, in which 
they were somewhat impeded by the long-range guns of 
their antagonists. 

This expedition to the banks of the Upper Potomac re- 
sulted in the captm-e of several prisoners, the expulsion of 
the Federals from this part of Virginia, the destruction of 



4$ STONEWALL JACKSON. 

a fine railroad bridge, and the possession of guns, clothing, 
and several wagon-loads of military stores. In it, how- 
ever, the llehels suffered less from the bullets of their foes 
than they did from the inclemency of the weather; and 
many a stout heart had to succumb to the terrible suffer- 
ings caused by exposure and exhaustion in the severest 
l^ortion of the winter. Of General Jackson's conduct 
therein, it is stated that the heroic commander, whose cour- 
age had been so brilliantly illustrated at Manassas, gave 
new proofs of his iron will in this expedition, and in the 
subsequent events of his campaign in the upper portion of 
the Yalley of Virginia. No one would have supposed that 
a man who, at the opening of the war, had been but a Pro- 
fessor in a State Military Institute, would have shown such 
active determination and such grim energy in the field. 

To Jackson's merit as a commander, writes Mr. Edward 
A. Pollard, in his History of the first year of the War, " he 
added the virtues of an active, humble, consistent Christ- 
ian, restraining profanity in his camp, welcoming army col- 
porteurs, distributing tracts, and anxious to have every regi- 
ment in his army supplied with a chaplain. He was vul- 
garly sneered at as a fatalist ; his habits of soliloquy were 
derided as superstitious conversations with a familiar 
spirit ; but the confidence which he had in his destiny was 
tlie unfailmg mark of genius, and adorned the Christian 
fiiith which made him believe that he had a distinct mission 
of duty in which he should be spared for the ends of Pro- 
vidence." 

Of the habits of his life, the following description is 



• i 



WINTER CAMPAIGN. 47 

also given by one who knew him well: "He is as calm 
in the midst of a hurricane of bullets as he was in the 
l^ew of his church at Lexington, when he was Professor of 
the Institute. He appears to be a man of almost superhu- 
man endurance. Neither heat nor cold makes the slightest 
impression upon him. He cares nothing for good quarters 
and dainty fare. Wrapped in his blanket, he throws him- 
self down on the ground anywhere, and sleeps as soundly 
as though he were in a palace. He lives as the soldiers 
live, and endures all the fatigue and all the suffering that 
they endure. His vigilance is something marvellous. He 
never seems to sleep, and lets nothing pass without his per- 
sonal scrutiny. He can neither be caught napping nor 
whipped when he is wide awake. The rapidity of his 
marches is something portentous. He is heard of by the 
enemy at one point, and before they can make uj) their 
minds to follow him he is off at another. His men have 
little baggage, and he moves as nearly as he can without 
incumbrance. He keeps so constantly in motion that he 
never has a sick-list, and no need of hospitals." 

Among the many anecdotes which are current of General 
Jackson's mode of life, there is one wkich illustrates the 
earnestness of his piety, and his never-failing appeal to his 
Maker to view with favor his every undertaking. He had 
in his service a negro, who had become so accustomed to 
his ways that he was enabled to discern whenever he was 
about to start upon an expedition, without receiving any 
notice to that effect. When once asked how he was able 



48 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

to ascertain this, as his master never divulged his plans, 
the negro replied : " Massa Jackson allers prays CH)ery 
night and ebery moriJR.i' ; but Avhen he go on any expe- 
dishun, he pray two, or tree, or four times durin' de night. 
When I see him pray two, or tree, or four times durin' do 
night, I pack de baggage, for I know he gwine on an expe- 
dishiin." 



CHAPTER Y. 

THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER. 

Jackson retires from the Upper Potomac — Skirmish at Blue's Gap — Encoun- 
ter at Blooming G-ap — Death of General Lander — Harper's Ferry re- 
occupied by the Federals — Advance of General Banks to Winchester — ■ 
Skirmishes before the Battle — Country around Winchester — Opening of 
the Engagement — Terrific Conflict near a Stone Wall — The Confederates 
finally repulsed — Numbers and Losses of the Combatants. 

Although Gen. Jackson was enabled, without much diffi- 
culty, to drive the small Federal force, which was stationed 
on the Virginia side of the Upper Potomac, to the northern 
banks of that river, yet he soon discovered that the ground 
which he had gained was untenable. He therefore speedily 
commenced to retrace his steps to the Yalley of the She- 
nandoah, closely followed by the Federals under command 
of General Lander. On the morning of the seventh of Janu- 
ary, 1862, a small force of Kebels, under the leadership of 
Colonel Blue, who had intrenched themselves at Blue's Gap 
— a pass strongly fortified by nature, and situated between 
two hills, a few miles to the east of Romney — were driven 
therefrom by a party of Union soldiers under Colonel Dun- 
ning, with a loss to the former of two guns and several 
men. On the seventh of February, General Lander occupied 



50 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Romney, the Confederates having previously evacuated that 
phice and retreated toward Winchester. 

On the fourteenth, witli four hundred cavahy, he drove 
from Blooming Gap a considerable force of Confederates, 
and pursued them for eight miles beyond the Gap on the 
road toward Winchester, and across the line Avhich divided 
his department from that of General Banks. This w^ork 
was only accomplished through the dashing behavior of 
General Lander, who had to rally his soldiers after they had 
become panic-stricken. It resulted in the capture of a great 
number of Kebel officers and men, and a large amount of 
commissariat stores. It was during this engagement that 
the popular Avriter, Lieutenant Fitz-James O'Brien, who 
was aid-de-camp to the Commanding General, received a 
bullet-wound in his breast which afterAvard resulted in his 
death ; and a fortnight after the battle the country had to 
mourn the loss of General Lander, who died in his camp 
from congestion of the brain, superinduced by the debilitat- 
ing effects from the wound he had received near Edward's 
Ferry, in his reconnoissance the day after the fall of Colonel 
Baker. He was one of the bravest and most energetic offi- 
cers, and one who had given the highest promise of valuable 
service to the Union in this its time of greatest need. 

The Rebels had likewise previous to this encounter been 
routed at N"ew-Creek, forty-five miles south of Romney, 
by another portion of General Lander's command, under 
Colonel Dunning. They wei'e now completely diiven out 
of the former's department. 



THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER. 51 

In a previous chapter we have stated that Harper's 
Ferry, which was evacuated by the Federals at the be- 
ginning of the Rebellion, again fell into their hands upon 
the advance of General Patterson, when just before the bat- 
tle of Bull Run, that officer was required to prevent a junc- 
tion between the forces under the command of General 
Johnston, and those then situated at Manassas. This im- 
portant position was afterward reoccupied by the Confeder- 
ates, and was in their possession upon the second appearance 
of General Jackson in the region of the Upper Potomac. 
After that General was driven back by General Lander to 
the Valley of the Shenandoah, it was again desert-ed by 
the Rebels, and reoccupied by the National forces on 
February twenty-fourth. The place was, however, the 
scene of stirring events about three weeks previous to this 
date, when the greater part of what was left of it was re- 
duced to ashes by the Federals, as a punishment to the 
Confederates for their having fired upon a boat of the 
former, which was sent to meet one of the latter, carrying 
a flag of truce. 

Entering Virginia at the mouth of the Shenandoah, Gen- 
eral Banks now commenced to pursue Jackson in his retro- 
grade movement up the valley of that river, and on the last 
day of February occupied Charlestown, situated eight miles 
south of the Potomac, upon the line of railroad leading to- 
ward Winchester ; and on March third he also took un- 
opposed possession of Martinsburgh, on the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railroad, a few miles west of Harper's Ferry. 



62 



STONEWALL JACKSON. 



By a rearrangement of the Army of tlie Potomac, the 
same was now divided into five army corps, the fifth of 
which inchided the forces under General Shiekls, who had 
succeeded to the command of General Lander, and those 
of General Banks, the entire force to be under the com- 
mand of the latter General. 

Advancing in the wake of the retreating forces of General 
Jackson, the Union troops approached Winchester, and, 
after two skirmishes on the Avay, entered that town on the 
twelfth, a strong fort to the north of it having been 
evacuated by the Rebels on the previous evening. Here 
they were received with joyful acclamations, the people 
hailing the coming of the Union army as the harbinger of 
peace and future prosperity, and cheering the regiments as 
they passed, which cheers were warmly responded to by 
both ofiicers and men. On the following afternoon, while 
a party of Union cavalry were foraging on the Strasburgh 
road, three miles from Winchester, and while the teams 
were being loaded with hay, they encountered a small force 
of Ashby's cavalry, with whom a skirmish took place, the 
latter advancing as the former returned to Winchester with 
their loaded teams, in good order and unharmed. General 
Banks on this day issued an order to his troops, in which 
he forbade depredations of any kind whatsoever, and deeply 
regretted that officers, in some cases, from mistaken views, 
had either tolerated or had encouraged such a course. 

The people of the North will well remember how, at this 
time, like to a will-o'the-wisp, Jackson retreated before 



fl 



THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTEK. 53 

the advancing Federals, being driven away in an inglorious 
retreat, and compelled to abandon the strongholds which ho 
had held some months. He, however, transported his bag- 
gage previous to the removal of his forces, which proves that 
the retreat had been carefully provided for. On the eigh- 
teenth and nineteenth of April, General Shields made a re- 
connoissance in the direction of Mount Jackson, a place 
situated on the Shenandoah River, at the termination of the 
Manassas Gap railroad. He there ascertained that the Con- 
federates under Jackson were strongly posted near that 
place, and in communication with a large force at Lui*ay 
and Washington to the east thereof. He deemed it Im- 
2)ortant to draw Jackson from his position and supporting 
force if possible. To effect this, he fell back upon Win- 
chester on the twentieth, giving his movement all the 
appearance of a hasty retreat. But, as it was scarcely 
considered likely that Jackson would fall into the trap laid 
for him, and as it was advisable that the army on the 
Kappahannock should be reenforced from Banks's coiys 
iVarmee^ the first division of the latter was being removed 
upon the turnpike which leads directly from Winchester 
to Alexandria, and the last brigade left for Centreville, 
by the way of Berryville, on the morning of the twenty- 
second. Only Shields's division and the Michigan cavalry 
were now at Winchester. 

The Confederate scouts, observing this movement, sig- 
nalled Jackson, with fires upon the hill-tops, that Winchester 
was being evacuated by the Federal forces, and about fivQ 



54 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

o'clock P.M., some of Ashby's caviilry drove in the pickets 
of the latter. The troops immediately sprmig to their arms, 
and two regiments of infantry, accompanied by two bat- 
teries of artillery, pnshed forward and drove back the Con- 
federates, who retreated, after a short resistance, to a little 
distance beyond Kernstown, a small village on the Yalley 
turnpike, about three and a half miles southernly from 
Winchester. During this attack. General Shields, while 
directing one of the batteries to its position, was struck by 
a shell which burst near him, broke his arm above the 
elbow, and for the time entirely paralyzed one side of his 
body. No one around supposed that he was injured, for 
the old hero gave no word or sign of having been wounded, 
but continued to give his orders, through his staff-officers, 
as coolly and deliberately as if nothing had happened, until 
every thing had been arranged to his satisfaction. This 
w^as the fourth time that the General had received wounds 
which had endangered his life, the three previous ones 
having been received di>ing the campaign in Mexico. 

The General, divining the attack of the enemy to be only 
a ruse to make him show his strength, kept the rest of his 
forces out of sight ; and though prostrated by the injuries 
he had received, set to work to make the requisite disposi- 
tion of his troops for the ensuing day. These dispositions 
being made, the General rested as well as his wounds would 
permit. 

A brief description is here necessary of the approaches to 
Winchester, and of the field which the next day became the 



THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER. 55 

scene of one of the most bloody and desperately fought bat 
ties of the war, and the only one in whicli General Jackson 
experienced a severe reverse. Winchester is approached 
from the south by three principal roads. These are tlie 
Cedar Creek road on the west, the Valley Turnpike leading 
to Strasburgh in the centre, and the Front Royal road on the 
east. On the Valley Turnpike, about three and a half miles 
from Winchester, is the little village of Kernstown, already 
mentioned ; about half a mile north of this village and west 
of the Valley Turnpike is a ridge of high hills commanding 
the approach by the Valley road and a part of the surround- 
ing country. 

This ridge was the key-point of the Federal position, and 
on this Colonel Kimball, the senior officer in command of 
the field, took his station. Along the ridge Lieut.-Colonel 
Daum, Chief of Artillery, posted three of his batteries, keep- 
ing one battery in reserve some distance in the rear. Part 
of the Federal infantry was posted on this ridge, within 
supporting distance of the artillery, and sheltered by the 
irregularities of the hills. 

The main body of the Confederates was posted in order 
of battle, about half a mile beyond Kernstown, their lino 
extending about two miles from the Cedar Creek road on 
their left, to a ravine near the Front Royal road on their 
right. They had so skilfully selected their ground, that 
while it afforded facilities for manoeuvring, they were com- 
pletely masked by high and wooded grounds in front; and 
so adroitly did they conceal themselves, that at eight o'clock 



56 



STONEWALL JACKSON. 



A.M., of the twenty-third, nothmg was visible but the force 
which had been repulsed the evening previous. 

Being unable, in consequence of his wound, to recon- 
noitre the point in person, General Shields despatched an 
officer to jDcrform that duty, who returned about an hour 
after, reporting that there were no indications of any hostile 
force, except that of Ashby's cavalry. General Shields and 
General Banks, after consulting together, came to the con- 
clusion that Jackson was nowhere in the vicinity, and, there- 
fore, General Banks took his departure for Washington. Al- 
though the conclusion had been reached that Jackson was 
not before Winchester, yet General Shieldj3, knowing the 
ever-vigilant foe he had to deal with, did not neglect a 
single precaution. About half-past ten o'clock a.m.,. a Con- 
federate battery opened upon the Federals, Avhich disclosed 
to the latter indications that a considerable force of the 
former was planted in the woods. In consequence of. this 
discovery, a brigade was pushed forward, and placed in a 
position to oppose the advance of the right wing of the 
Kebels. 

The action opened by a fire of artillery on both sidas, 
but at too great a distance to be very effective. The ad- 
vance was made by the Confederates, who pushed a few 
more guns to their right, supported by a considerable force 
of infantry and cavalry, with the apparent intention of en- 
filading the Federal position and turning Shields's left 
flank. An active body of skirmishers was immediately 
. thrown forward by the latter to check the advance of the 



THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTEE. 57 

Rebels. These skirmishers were supported by four pieces 
of artillery and a brigade of infantry, and this united 
force repulsed the Confederates at all points. The latter 
withdrew the greater part of their force on their right, and 
formed it into a reserve to support their left. They then 
added their original reserve, and two batteries to their 
main body, and under shelter of a hill on their left, on 
which they had jDosted other batteries, they advanced their 
formidable column, with the evident intention of turning 
the Federal right flank, or overwhelming it. The Na- 
tional batteries on the opposite hill were soon found in- 
sufficient to check or even retard the Rebels. A message 
was therefore sent to General Shields informing him of the 
state of the field. Not a moment was to be lost. " Throw 
forward all your disposable infantry, carry the enemy's 
batteries, turn his left flank, and hurl it back on the centre," 
were his orders, and Colonel Kimball executed them with 
rapidity and vigor. The movement was intrusted to Ty- 
ler's splendid brigade, and following their intrepid leader, 
they pressed forward Avith enthusiasm to the performance 
of this perilous duty. The skirmishers of the Confederates 
were as chaff before the wind. Steadily onward it went 
until within a few yards of a high stone wall, behind which 
Jackson's men were securely posted, v/hen it was met by a 
fire so fierce and deadly that its ranks melted away like 
frost before the morning sun. They wavered but for a mo- 
ment, then rushed forward to the desperate struggle. At 
this juncture. Colonel Tyler was strongly reenforced; and 
3^ 



68 STONEWALL JACKSO?^. 

with a cheer and a yell from his men that rose high and 
loud above the roar of battle, he drove the Rebels from 
their shelter, and through the woods, with a fire as de- 
structive as ever fell upon a retreating foe. The Rebels 
fought desperately, as their piles of dead attested, and to 
their chagrin and mortification, Jackson's " invincible stone- 
wall brigade " and the accompanying brigades were obliged 
to fall back upon their reserve in disorder. Here they took 
up a new position, and attempted to retrieve the fortunes 
of the day. But again rained down upon them the same 
close and destructive fire. Again cheer ujoon cheer rang in 
their ears. But a few nnnutes did they stand against it, 
when they turned and fled in dismay, leaving their killed 
and wounded on the field. Night alone saved them from 
destruction. They retreated about five miles, and then 
took up a position for the night. The Federal troops now 
threw themselves on the field to rest, and to eat the first 
meal they had been able to partake of since the dawning of 
the day. 

Although the battle had been won, still General Shields 
could not believe that Jackson would have hazarded a de- 
cisive engagement at such a distance from his main body 
without expecting reinforcements. So to be prepared for 
any contingency, he brought together all the troops within 
his reach, and sent an express for Williams's brigade, now 
twenty miles distant on its way to Centreville, to march all 
night, and join him in the morning. He also gave positive 
orders to the forces in the field to open fire upon the Rebels 



THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER. 59 

as soon as daylight would enable tliem to point their guns, 
and to pursue them without respite, and compel them to 
abandon their guns and baggage, or cut them to pieces. 

It appears that General Shields had rightly divined Jack- 
son's intentions, for on the morning of the day of battle a 
recnforcement of five thousand men from Luray reached 
Front Koyal, on their way to join him. This recnforce- 
ment was being followed by another body of ten thousand 
from Sperryville, but recent rains having rendered the She- 
nandoah River impassable, they were compelled to fall 
back without efiecting the proposed junction. 

At daylight on the twenty-fourth, tlie Federal artillery 
again opened on the Rebels, but the latter entered upon 
tlieir retreat in good order, considering Avhat they had suf- 
fered. General Banks, hearing of the engagement on his 
way to Washington, halted at Harper's Ferry, and ordered 
back a part of Williams's division. He returned to Win- 
cliester, and after making a hasty visit to General Shields, 
assumed command of the forces in pursuit of the flying 
Rebels. The j^ursuit was kept up with vigor until the Fede- 
rals reached Woodstock, Avhere Jackson's retreat became 
fright, when it was abandoned, in consequcEce of the utter 
exhaustion of the troops. 

The Federal loss in this engagement is stated to have 
been one hundred and three in killed, four hundred and 
forty-one wounded, and twenty-four missing. Of the Confed- 
erate loss we are not able to speak with accuracy. General 
Shields reports that two hundred and seventy were found 



60 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

dead on the "battle-field, and that forty were buried by the 
inliabitants of the adjacent village. He computes, from a 
calculation made of the number of graves discovered on 
both sides of the Valley road, between Winchester and 
Strasburgh, added to these figures, that Jackson's loss in 
killed could not have been less than five hundred, and that 
his wounded must have been double that number. Jack- 
son's ofiicial report would no doubt satisfy us upon this 
head, but as the Confederate government have studiously 
abstained from making the same public, there can be little 
reason to imagine otherwise than that his loss was a severe 
one. In fact there can be no denying that this battle of 
"Winchester terminated most disastrously to him, though 
perhaps it was the only one which has not been more or 
less instrumental in adding considerably to his fame. 

The Federal force engaged in this battle did not exceed 
seven thousand in infantry, cavalry, and artillery. General 
Shields calculates that Jackson must have been supported 
by a much larger number, whilst Confederate correspond- 
ents claim that their force was considerably outnumbered 
by that of the Federals. 

Though the battle of Winchester pales into insignificance 
when it is compared with many of the other conflicts of the 
l^resent war — conflicts in which twenty times the number 
of troops were engaged — yet it has been scarcely surpassed 
by any in the terrible earnestness of the combatants and 
in the fierceness of the combat. It Avas a battle in which 
many for the first time bathed their swords in blood, but 



k 



THE BATTLE OF WIN-CHESTER. 61 

they fought like veterans, and were led by commanders 
worthy of their valor. Although Jackson on this occasion 
suffered the mortification of defeat, it might have been that 
had he been opposed by a less practised and a less gallant 
general than he found the Federal commander to be, his 
well-known strategy would have won for him the honors of 
the day. At one time victory appeared to be almost with- 
in his grasp. Fighting behind a veritable stone wall, his 
renowned " Stonewall " brigade poured forth into the Fede- 
ral ranks their deadly missiles with such unerring aim, that 
nothing, but the most dogged courage of the Northern men, 
could have enabled them to dislodge their enemy from his 
mural breastwork. So terrible was this part of the en- 
gagement that, during its progress, four times was the 
color-bearer of the Fifth Ohio Volunteers laid prostrate, 
after which the banner was borne forward to victory by the 
Lieutenant-Colonel of another regiment, who had caaght it 
from tlie hands of a dying sergeant. 



CHAPTER YI. 

CAMPAIGN^ IN" THJE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH RETRBAT 

OF GENERAL BANKS. 

Retreat of Jackson up the Valley — Federal Plans to capture him — Battle 
of McDowell — Compels Banks to retreat — Battle of Front Royal — ^Alarra 
of General Banks at Strasburgh — He commences a rapid Retreat — Disas- 
ters by the Way — Exciting Scenes in Winchester — Second Battle of Win- 
chester — Safe Arrival of the Federals in Maryland — Estimate of Losses. 

After the battle of Wincliester, General Jackson re- 
treated toward the upper waters of the Shenandoah, close- 
ly followed by the forces under Generals Banks and Shields, 
who, however, were never able to come up with their swift- 
footed antagonist. During this pursuit, they were several 
times impeded in their progress by, and had many encoun- 
ters with, Ashby's cavalry, who acted as the rear-guard of 
the Rebels. They disputed the passage of the Federals at 
nearly every point, burning bridges, and throwing every 
obstacle in their progress. 

On the fourth of April, the Federal troops in this valley 
were detached from the Army of the Potomac, in which they 
formed a corjys cVarmee^ and the district was created into a sep- 
rate Department, under the command of General Banks. It 
was at this time also that the troops situated upon the Rap- 



CAMPAIGN IN" THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 63 

paJiannock were in like manner detached from General Mc- 
dellan's supreme command and placed under that of Mc- 
Dowell. These new arrangements it, is utterly impossible 
to deny, considerably interfered with General McClellan's 
plan of operations upon the Peninsula, from which point he 
was now menacing Kichmond. 

The Confederates were desirous of collecting all their avail- 
able strength for the protection of their capital, and orders 
were forwarded shortly after this time to General Jackson, 
instructing him to rejoin his forces to those of General John- 
ston ; but at the earnest remonstrance of the former General, 
who considered that he could better defend Kichmond on 
the Shenandoah than upon the Chickahominy, he was al- 
lowed to remain on the banks of the former river. 

To capture Jackson and his entire force was one of the 
cherished plans of the Federals. While General Banks was 
closely treading in his footsteps in his retreat up the valley, 
a strong detachment of the army under General Fremont, 
who was in command of the Mountain Department of 
the AUeghanies, was deployed under Generals Milroy and 
Schenck to enter the Shenandoah Valley at Buffalo Gap, 
west of Staunton, and there give Jackson a meeting. It was 
anticipated that, being thus placed between two fires, it 
would be barely possible the Rebel General could es- 
cape. How far the Federals were right in their calcula- 
tions, the sequel will tell. 

In the movements of General Milroy, having for their ob- 
ject the circumvention of the Rebels, he encountered a por- 



64 



STONEWALL JACKSON. 



tion of Jackson's force on April the twenty-firet, within a 
few miles of Buffalo Gap, and had a skirmish with a sma*U 
force of their cavalry. He then fell back to McDowell, on 
the Bull Pasture Mountain, where he encamped till May the 
eighth, on which date he was driven therefrom by a superior 
force of Confederates. 

General Jackson, learning the advance of Milroy, sent a 
force to meet him from Yalley Mills, six miles north of 
Staunton, with five days' rations and without tents or bag- 
gage, save blankets, under the command of General Ed. 
Johnson. Upon the next day, the advance-guard had a 
skirmish with the outposts of the Federals at the junction 
of Jennings's Gap and the Parkersburgh turnpike-road, 
twenty-one miles from Staunton. At the same time, General 
Jackson came up with an additional force, and after con- 
sultation with General Johnson, the latter proceeded along 
the road toward Shenandoah Mountain in pursuit of the 
Federals, closely followed by the force under General Jack- 
son. Arriving at the mountain, they discovered that several 
Federal regiments, which had been encamped there, had 
hastily retreated, leaving their tents and stores behind them ; 
and, ascending to the summit, they could see them proceed- 
ing upon the east side of Bull Pasture Mountain, about five 
miles in advance. 

At sunrise on the morning of the eighth, the Confederates 
continued their line of march, and arriving at Bull Pasture 
Mountain they ascended to its summit, and discovered that 
Milroy had placed a battery on tho road leading into Mc- 



CAMPAIGN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 65 

Dowell, and commanding a narrow gorge on the west side 
of the mountain, through which the road passes. It becom- 
ing late in the day before the Confederate Generals had com- 
pleted their survey of the Federal position, they concluded 
to postpone offensive operations until the following morn- 
ing. But about five o'clock they were attacked by the Na- 
tional forces, w^ho were reenforced, and after a desperate 
fight of five hours' duration drove them from the field. Dur- 
ing the engagement. General Johnson narrowly escaped be- 
ing captured. He was rescued from a perilous position by 
the Richmond Zouaves, who, observing his danger, charged 
upon the Federals, and by this act disobeyed orders which 
General Jackson had given them to fall back, the latter at 
the time not being aware of his brother General's critical 
position. 

The Rebels lost on this occasion about three hundred in 
killed, wounded, and missing, of which one third were either 
killed or mortally wounded. The Federal loss is stated to 
have been thirty killed and two hundred and sixteen wound- 
ed. The entire force of the latter in the engagement was 
two thousand and sixty-five men, and of the former two bri- 
gades of three regiments each. 

It was quite dark before the engagement terminated, 
when the Federals at once prepared to fall back, and found 
it necessary to destroy a quantity of stores. The Confede- 
rates expected to renew the fight the following morning, but 
found that their foe had evacuated his camp, leaving behind 
him all his equipage, a large quantity of ammuniti :)n, a num- 



m STOXEWALL JACKSON. 

ber of cases of Enfield rifles, and about one hundred head of 
cattle, mostly milch cows. 

The Federals made their retreat good to Franklin, west 
of the Shenandoah Mountains, to which place they were 
closely followed by the Confederates. General Fremont also 
reached this place on May the thirteenth, having proceeded 
thither by forced marches, it being apprehended that an at- 
tack would be made by the Rebels upon the Union forces 
there situated. 

General Jackson having compelled the retreat of the 
forces of General Fremont, who had been sent to oppose his 
progress, now turned round upon General Banks, and in- 
stead of being the pursued became the pursuer. The rapidity 
with which, from this change in the programme, the latter 
General was compelled to make good his retreat to the 
northern banks of the Potomac, exhibited a display of strate- 
getical ability on his part which was only equalled by that 
still greater strategy which necessitated the retreat. 

The suddenness wdth which this scene in the drama of 
the war was changed from a bright and glowing prospect 
to one enveloped in mist and darkness was a cause of great 
alarm to the people of the Korth, and led the President not 
only to call for aid from the militia of the loyal States, but 
to prevent General McDowell from marching with his forces 
from the Rappahannock to the assistance of General Mc- 
Clellan in his attack upon Richmond. 

The most southerly point which General Banks reached 



CAMPAIGN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 67 

in the Valley of the Shenandoah was Harrisonburgh, where, 
on April tlie twenty-ninth, a National salute was fired and 
rejoicings took place in honor of recent Union victories. 

Shortly after this date, finding that Jackson was pressing 
upon his front and that the place was becoming untenable, 
the Federal General retreated down the valley. One of the 
immediate causes which necessitated this retreat was the 
removal of General Shields's division, of two thousand men 
or more, from General Banks's corps. There is reason to 
believe that urgent, but useless, remonstrance was made by 
General Banks against this depletion of his force, and that a 
representation which he had made, that Jackson had been 
heavily reenforced, was met only by incredulity. The num- 
ber of men left under General Banks's command was but 
about seven thousand, who were now pressed by three times 
that number under Generals Jackson and Ewell. 

On the twenty-first of May some of Ashby's cavalry 
showed themselves in the neighborhood of Strasburgh, from 
which place they were driven by a small force of Federal 
cavalry. About this time a considerable portion of Jack- 
son's forces were making a detour to Front Royal — a small 
village twelve miles east of Strasburgh, and situated on the 
eastern bank of the Shenandoah River, over which is here 
carried a large bridge of the Manassas Gap Railroad — and 
on the twenty-third surprised and captured almost the entire 
Federal force, which was encamped near that place. This lat- 
ter consisted of about nine hundred men under the command 
of Colonel John R. Kenly. They were stationed at Front 



OO STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Royal, for the purpose of protecting the place and the rail- 
road and bridges between that town and Strasburgh against 
the local guerrilla parties who infested that locality. So 
small a force could never have been expected to defend them- 
selves against much larger numbers, for Front Royal in itself 
is an indefensible position. Two mountain valleys debouch 
suddenly upon the town from the south, commanding it by 
almost inaccessible hills, and it is at the same time exposed 
to flank movements by other mountain valleys via Stras- 
burgh on the west, and Chester Gap on the east. The only 
practicable defence of this town would seem to be by a force 
sufficiently strong to hold these mountain passes some miles 
in advance, and such a force General Banks had not at his 
disposal. 

On the twenty-third of May it was discovered that the 
entire Confederate force was in movement down the valley 
of the Shenandoah between the Massanutten Mountain and 
the Blue Ridge, and in close proximity to the town ; and 
their cavalry had captured a considerable number of the 
Federal pickets, before the alarm was given of their near 
approach. The little band found itself instantaneously com- 
pelled to choose between an immediate retreat or a contest 
with overwhelming numbers. They chose the latter. Driven 
at last from the camp and the town, they were compelled 
to retreat across the river. As^ain forminc^ into line and 
placmg their battery in position upon the opposite shore, 
tliey opened fire upon the Rebels, while the latter were ford- 
ing the stream. They again found it necessary to retreat, 



CAMrAIGN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 69 

and had only proceeded two miles upon the "Winchester road, 
when they were overtaken by the Rebel cavalry. A fear- 
ful fight ensued, which ended in a complete destruction of the 
command, Colonel Kenly falling at the head of his column. 
A very small number only were enabled to escape, accom- 
plishing the same through the friendly covering of the neigh- 
boring woods. 

Very early on the following morning, the Confederates 
marched upon the road to Middletown, a place situated on 
the turnpike between Strasburgh and Winchester, and about 
eight miles north of the former place. At Middletown they 
came upon and attacked a part of General Banks's force as 
it was retreating along the road. Having cut the same in 
twain, a brigade of Ewell's division j^ursued the Strasburgh 
wing, capturing many prisoners, and demoralizing the rest 
of the troops, whilst the main body hurried swiftly down the 
valley after General Banks. Every few hundred yards, they 
passed one or more Federal wagons, upset, broken, or team- 
less, and full of baggage or military stores. Upon approach- 
ing Newtown, a few miles north of Middletown, the Rebels 
were for a while checked with artillery, after which the 
Federal rout and flight became precipitous and exciting be- 
yond degree. The Federals made another stand in the 
neighborhood of Winchester, but after an engagement of 
short duration, they were compelled to give up the con- 
test, and continue their retreat. 

On the evening of the twenty-third, information was r^ 



70 STONEW.ILL JACKSON. 

ceived by General Banks at Strasburgh of the critical posi- 
tion in which Colonel Kenly was placed at Front Koyal; 
but as he viewed with distrust the extravagant statements 
which he received of the Confederate strength, he only for- 
warded a regiment of infantry, a detachment of cavalry, and 
a section of artillery to his assistance. He had, however, 
scarcely despatched these reenforcements when information 
reached him of the utter annihilation of Colonel Kenly's 
troops. He therefore recalled them, and sent out nu- 
merous reconnoitring parties to ascertain, if possible, the 
force, and the position and purpose of this sudden movement 
of General Jackson. It was soon found that his pick- 
ets were in possession of every road leading from Front 
Royal to Strasburgh, Middletown, Newtown, and Win- 
chester, and rumors from every quarter represented him 
in movement in rear of his pickets in the direction of the 
Federal camp. 

General Banks could not now doubt the extraordinary 
force of the Confederates by which he was threatened, nor 
could he believe otherwise but that they had a more exten- 
sive purpose than the capture of the " brave little band at 
Front Royal." He at once divined that this purpose could 
be nothing less than either the defeat of his own command 
or its possible capture by the occupation of "Winchester, 
through which means the Rebels would be enabled to inter- 
cept his supplies and reenforcements, and out him off from 
all possibility of retreat. He also ascertained that he was 
menaced by the divisions of Generals Jackson, Ewell, and 



CAMPAIGN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 71 

Johnson, numbering not less than twenty-five thousand men, 
under command of the first-named General. 

Considering his position a very critical one, General 
Banks felt that the most expedient course for himself to 
adopt was to make a rapid movement on Winchester with 
a view to anticipate the occupation of that town by Jack- 
son. He would thus place his command in communication 
with its original base of operations in the line of reinforce- 
ments by Harper's Ferry and Martinsburgh, and by this 
means secure a safe retreat in case of disaster. 

Calling in all his outposts, he prepared to march at three 
o'clock on the morning of the twenty-fourth of May. 
Several hundred disabled men who had been left in his 
charge by Shields's division, were first put upon the march, 
and his wagon train was ordered forward to Winchester, 
under an escort of cavalry and infantry. General Hatch, 
with nearly the whole force of cavalry and six pieces of ar- 
tillery, was charged with the protection of the rear of the 
cohmin, and the destruction of army stores for which trans- 
portation was not provided. All the preparations being 
completed with incredible alacrity, the column was put in 
motion shortly after nine o'clock. It had not proceeded 
many miles when information was received from the front 
that the Kebels had attacked the train, and were in full 
possession of the road at Middletown. This report was 
soon confirmed by the return of fugitives, refugees, and 
wagons, which came tumbling to the rear in dreadful con- 
fusion. The immediate danger being now in front, the 



72 



STONEWALL JACKSON. 



troops were ordeied to the head of the column, and the 
train transferred to the rear. Cedar Creek Bridge, three 
miles north of Strasburgh, — over which the entire column 
liad passed, with the exception of the rear-guard, which had 
been instructed to remain in front of Strasburgh as long as 
possible, and thus hold the enemy in check in that direction 
— was also prepared for the flames, in order that its destruc- 
tion might prevent any pursuit on the part of the Confeder- 
ates. By the burning of the bridge, Captain Abert and the 
Zouaves d^Afrique w^ere cut off from the column, but after 
a sharp conflict with a party of Rebel cavalry at Strasburgh, 
they made their way safely to Williamsport, where they 
joined their comrades. 

The advance-guard encountered the Confederates in 
force at Middletown, thirteen miles south of Winchester, 
and after a sharp engagement drove them back. The 
column had not, however, proceeded much farther, before 
it w\as again attacked by a considerable force of infantry, 
cavalry, and artillery. After repeated attempts to force 
a passage through the Rebel lines which had possession of 
the tui-npike, a part of the force which had been cut off 
from the main body made several ineffectual attempts to 
join it by proceeding upon a parallel road. Failing in this, 
they returned to Strasburgh, from which place they pro- 
ceeded by a circuitous route to Winchester, and other 
places north thereof, where they joined the main body. 

The rear of the column was again attacked by an in- 
creased force between Newtown and Kernstow^n, and large 



CAMPAIGN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 73 

bodies of Jackson's cavalry passed upon the Federal right 
and left, the increased vigor of his movements demonstrat- 
ing the rapid advance of his main body. 

The early and rapid march of the front portion of the 
train prevented the accomplishment of Jackson's contem- 
plated plan of crushing it between those forces which he 
had despatched to intercept it, and the troops which press- 
ed upon the rear of the column. It Avas, therefore, only 
the end of the column which encountered the main difficul- 
ties that beset it on its journey. Those of the front who, 
after a long and anxious day's march, were enabled to re- 
tire to rest in the town of Winchester on the evening of 
that eventful Saturday, were startled at daybreak on the 
Sabbath morning by the noise of cannon and the rattle of 
musketry, and could see the smoke as it rose from the hills 
three miles distant. Some of the people of Winchester 
gazed thitherward, as upon an interesting spectacle, and 
rejoiced that Jackson was again coming to free them from 
the Northern yoke ; whilst others could see nothing in the 
anticipated change which could give them cause for joy. 

Presently, and there were heard the tramping of horses' 
hoofs upon the road, and the heavy rolling of artillery over 
the pavement, and then every thing was in commotion. 
The women sobbed, and the men ran to and fro. The 
forces which had been quartered for the night in the tovv^n 
were started upon a hasty retreat. Flames rose from 
burning buildings, and heavy columns of smoke which roll- 



74 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

ed upward, betokened to distant eyes that a scene of do* 
struction was being enacted. 

Whilst the Confederates were entering the town at the 
southern end, the Federals were rapidly making their exit 
through its northern portals. "All the streets were in 
commotion," writes an eye-witness to the scene ; " Cavalry 
were rushing disorderly away, and infantry frightened by 
the rapidity of their mounted companions, were in conster- 
nation. All were trying to escape faster than their neigh- 
bors, dreading most of all to be the last Guns, 

knapsacks, cartridge-boxes, bayonets, and bayonet-cases, 
lay scattered upon the ground in great profusion, thrown 

away by the panic-stricken soldiers But this 

confusion and disorder was not of long duration. General 
Banks riding continually among the men, and addressing 
them kindly and firmly, shamed them to a consideration of 
their unbefitting consternation. At length stationing him- 
self and stafi" with several others across a field through 
which the soldiers were rapidly flying, the men Avere order- 
ed to stop their flight, were formed into line, and were 
made to march on in a more soldier-like manner." 

Vehicles of every description, crowded with sick soldiers 
and citizens, and bound northwards, passed rapidly through 
the streets on this eventful morning. The contrabands 
flocked through them, each with his little bundle ; and 
whole families of negroes, some of them with packs strap- 
ped on head and shoulders, little children almost too small 
to walk, and lean horses carrying two or three, went fol- 



CAMPAIGN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 76 

lowing the train. Meantime, the thunder of cannonading 
had commenced. Nearer and nearer it came, and the cry- 
went forth that the Rebels were driving the Federal forces. 
As the fugitives retired from the city, they looked back 
and beheld flames ascending from many of the build- 
ings, in which military stores and powder had been con- 
tained, and to which the torch had been applied to prevent 
them falling into the hands of the Rebels. Here was por- 
trayed a vivid illustration of the horrors of war. Homes 
that once had been the abodes of happiness, now became 
desolate, and fell a prey to the ravages of the flames. The 
town in which but two months previous the Federals had 
entered with joyous hearts, treading to the sound of mar- 
tial music, and under the shadow of their waving banners, 
they now left in despondency, and with the marks of fear 
depicted in their faces. 

We will now return to the rear. Two hours past mid- 
night on Saturday the two brigades under the command of 
Colonels Gordon and Donnelly, upon whom, toward the 
close of the day, had devolved the duty of protecting the 
end of the column, and who had thus far succeeded in keep- 
ing the Confederates at bay, halted for the night in the out- 
skirts of Winchester. The men went into bivouac with- 
out fire, with but little food, and completely exhausted. 

At Winchester all doubts as to the number of the Con- 
federate forces were set at rest. All classes — secessionists, 
Unionists, refugees, fugitives, and prisoners — agreed that 



'" STONEWALL JACKSON. 

it was overwhelming, and that from twenty-live to thir- 
ty thousand men were iu. close j^roximity to the place. 
Rebel officers who came into the Federal camp with entire 
unconcern, supposing that their OAvn troops occupied the 
town, confirmed these statements, and added that an attack 
would be made on the National forces at daybreak. Meas- 
ures were, therefore, promptly taken to repel the attack ; 
and at early dawn the two brigades in question were under 
arms. Soon after four o'clock, the artillery opened its 
fire, which was continued without intermission until the 
close of the engagement. Colonel Gordon's brigade was 
placed on the right of the line, and was partly covered from 
the fire of the enemy by stone walls. Colonel Donnelly's 
brigade was assigned to the left. The earliest movement 
of the Rebels was in this direction, but this being intercept- 
ed by a detachment of cavalry, it was apparently aban- 
doned. 

The main body of the Confederates was hidden during 
the early part of the action by the crest of a hill, and the 
woods in the rear. Their force was apparently masked on 
the Federal right, and their manoeuvres indicated a purpose 
to turn it upon the Berryville road, where it appeared sub- 
sequently that they had placed a considerable force with a 
view of preventing reenforcoments arriving from Harper's 
Ferry. In this, however, they were frustrated until a small 
portion of the National troops under the erroneous im- 
pression that an order had been given to withdraw, made 
a movement to the rear. No sooner was this observed by 



CAMPAIGN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 77 

the Rebels than their regiments swarmed upon the crest of 
the hill, and advanced from the woods upon the Federal 
right, which fell back upon the town, continuing its fire by 
tlie way. 

The overwhelming force of the Confederates thus sud- 
denly showed itself. It was considered unwise to make 
further resistance, and orders were given to the entire 
Federal force to withdraw, which w^as done in good order. 
A portion of the troops passed through the town in some 
confusion, but the column was soon re-formed, and contin- 
ued its march. 

This engagement held the Rebels in check for five hours. 
The forces were greatly unequal, there being not less than 
twenty-five thousand of Jackson's trooj)S in position, and 
capable of being brought into action, whilst the two bri- 
gades of Federals consisted of less than four thousand men. 
The latter were, however, assisted by nine hundred cavalry, 
ten Parrott guns, and a battery of six-pounders. 

This battle took place upon nearly the same spot on 
which the previous battle of Winchester had been fought ; 
but when we take into consideration, the great disparity in 
the forces which met in deadly encounter on the occasion 
of this second engagement, it can scarcely be admitted that 
the Confederate commander here regained all the laurels 
which he had here lost. 

The Federals now continued their march in three parallel 
columns, and proceeded in the direction of Martinsburgh. 



78 



STONEWALL JACKSON. 



The Confederates pursued them with promptitude and 
vigor, but the movements of the retreating party Avere now 
rapid and without loss. Halting for two hours and a half 
at Martinsburgh, they proceeded on their way to the banks 
of the Potomac, and the rear-guard reached that river at 
sundown — forty-eight hours after the first news of the attack 
upon Front Royal. Thus was completed a march of fifty- 
three miles, thirty-five of which had been performed in one 
day. 

" The scene of the river," says General Banks in his re- 
port, " when the rear-guard arrived, was of the most ani- 
mating and exciting description. A thousand camp-fires 
were burning on the hill-side, a thousand carriages of every 
description were crowded upon the banks, and the broad 
river between the exhausted troops and their coveted rest." 

On the following morning, the entire force was moved 
across the river in safety, and, remarks the Federal Com- 
mander " There never were more grateful hearts in the 
same number of men, than when, at mid-day on the tAventy- 
sixth, we stood on the opposite shore." 

The entire number of men lost by this retreat was esti- 
mated at about nine hundred, of whom thirty-eight were 
killed, one hundred and fifty-five wounded, and seven hun- 
dred and eleven missing. Of the wagon-train which con- 
sisted of nearly five hundred wagons. General Banks states 
that he only lost fifty-five, and that these with, but few ex- 
ceptions were all burned on the road, and not abandoned 
to the enemy. He further states that nearly all his supplies 



CAMPAIGN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 79 

were saved with the exception of tlie stores lost at Front 
Royal an*d at Winchester, at which latter place a consid- 
erable portion was destroyed by his own troops. 

The Confederates consider this expedition of General 
Jackson to have been a most glorious one, and they find 
reason to ascribe its results to the zeal, heroism, and genius 
of its Commander alone. They claim for it a comparison 
with some of the most famous campaigns in modern his- 
tory. It was brief but brilliant, only three weeks having 
passed between the commencement of the aggressive move- 
ment, and the expulsion of the Federal army from the 
valley of Virginia. During this short period it is claimed 
that Jackson fought four battles and had a number of 
skirmishes, killed and wounded a considerable number of 
the Federals, captured four thousand prisoners, secured mil- 
lions of dollars' worth of stores, destroyed many millions of 
dollars' worth for the Federals, recovered Winchester, and 
annihilated the invading army of the valley — and all this 
with a loss scarcely exceeding one hundred in killed and 
wounded. 

We leave it to the reader to compare these statements 
with those made by the commander of the National forces, 
and to draw his own deductions therefrom. 



CHAPTEE yn. 

VALLEY OF TUE SHENANDOAH FEDEEAL PUESUIT OP 

JACKSON. 

Excitement in the North — Federal Plan to capture Jackson — Attack on 
Harper's Ferry — Front Royal recovered — Fremont and Shields pursue 
Jackson — Death of General Ashby — Battle of Cross Keys — Port Ee- 
public — Jackson escapes bis Pursuers — Discomforts of Fremont's 
March — The Valley devastated — Jackson's Devotional Habits. 

As we have already stated, the retreat of General Banks 
led to the wildest excitement in the cities of the North. 
In Baltimore this excitement culminated in acts of violence, 
and prominent citizens who were tainted with Secession 
proclivities were publicly mobbed in the streets, and their 
lives placed in jeopardy. The Administration not only 
found itself necessitated to make a call upon the country 
for additional troops, but it required the Governors of 
several of the loyal States to forward detachments of their 
militia for the protection of the National Capital. 

It now became a part of the Federal plan to outflank 
Jackson and to capture him with his entire force, before 
he could return to his base of operations. For this pur- 
pose General Fremont was instructed to advance from 
Franklin, in the Mountain Department, where his force 



1 



V.iLLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 81 

was now located, and enter the valley, from the west, in 
the neighborhood of Strasburgh; whilst General Shields 
wtis sent from the Rappahannock to reach the same point 
via Manassas Gap on the east. 

General Jackson, learning of these movements, hastened 
from his advanced position on the line of the Potomac, and 
rapidly retraced his steps np the valley, with the hope of 
eluding his pursuers, and reaching the upper end thereof 
before they would be enabled to intercept him. Before 
doing this, however, he made an attempt to dislodge the 
National forces at Harper's Ferry, but failed to accomplish 
his object. For two days he endeavored to draw them out 
from their stronghold, so that he could give them battle on 
ground of his own choosing ; but General Saxton, who was 
then in command of the Federal troops there stationed, 
would not be lured by the Aviles of his scheming foe. Foil- 
ed in these attem.pts, Jackson determined to storm the jjlace. 
This he did about nightfall on Friday, May the thirtieth, 
amid a terrific storm. The scene at the time was very 
impressive. The night w^as intensely dark ; the hills around 
were alive with the signal-lights of the Rebels ; the rain 
descended in torrents ; vivid flashes of lightning illu- 
minated, at intervals, the magnificent scenery; while 
tlie crash of thunder, echoing among the mountains, 
drowned into comparative insignificance the roar of the 
artillery. 

After an action of about one hour's duration, the Confed- 
erates retired. They made another unsuccessful attack at 
4* 



82 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

midnight, and after a short engagement disappeared. 
Jackson, then retreated. On the following morning the 
Federals pursued him as far as Charlestown, only to learn 
that his rear-guard had passed through the place an hour 
before their arrival. 

On the morning of the day that this affair took place at 
Harper's Ferry, a portion of Jackson's forces stationed at 
Front Royal were driven from that place by a brigade of 
National troops. The Rebels were taken as completely by 
surprise as Colonel Kenly's command had been the week 
previous, and they had no time left either to save or de- 
stroy any thing. Railroad engines and cars filled with 
stores, along with many prisoners, fell into the hands of 
the Federals, and several of the Union men who were here 
captured by the Confederates, on their attacking the place, 
were recaptured. 

General Fremont left Franklin on Sunday, May the twen- 
ty-fifth, and his advance-guard entered Strasburgh on the 
evening of the following Sunday, the troops having halted 
one day on the road, being compelled to do so from ex- 
haustion. The march was made amid heavy rains, which 
rendered the roads almost impassable. 

With the exception of a small skirmish, which occurred 
at Wardensville, the advancing party met wath no opposi- 
tion to their progress, until the morning of the day on 
which they reached Strasburgh. On this morning, ho\\ 
ever, Colonel Cluseret's brigade, which formed the advance 



VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 83 

guard of Fremont's army, had a sharp encounter and brisk 
cannonading with Jackson's rear-guard or flanking column. 
Although the latter were repulsed, after an engagement of 
two hours' duration, they had been enabled to gain time 
for and to protect Jackson's main force, which was then 
hurriedly retreating over the road from Winchester to 
Strasburgh. 

Jackson had pushed on his forces so swiftly that he suc- 
ceeded in reaching Strasburgh just in season to pass be- 
tween Fremont on the one side and Shields on the other. 
The advance-guard of the former entered Strasburgh on 
the evening of the day- that Jackson passed through the 
town, whilst Shields's advance-guard reached it the follow- 
ing morning. Shields's advance-guard now joined Fre- 
mont's force, whilst his main army passed up the valley to 
the eastward. 

The Federals were now close upon Jackson's heels, and 
the Confederate rear-guard now found it necessary on 
many occasions to dispute the progress of the National 
forces. General Ewell was in the command of this rear- 
guard, and received able assistance from Ashby's cavalry. 
During the passage of the Union soldiers, they found .strewn 
along the roads and in the adjoining woods, suc^i relics as 
a fugitive army is wont to scatter in its trail ; and dead, 
wounded, and exhausted soldiers lay by che side of the 
road. 

Woodstock was reached on Monday night by the Fed- 
erals, Jackson's army having parsed through the town on 



84 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

die same day. The Confederates were so closely pressed 
that their bridge-bnrpers could but half accomplish the task 
which was allotted to them, and the Federals were easily 
able to repair any damage which the bridges sustained at 
their hands. However, at Mount Jackson, the long bridge 
which there crosses the Shenandoah, a river too swift and 
deep to be forded, was so far destroyed as seriously to de- 
hiy the Federals in their onward progress. Upon reaching 
this point Jackson was so closely pressed that his rear- 
guard had but barely passed over one end of the bridge, 
when the Federal cavalry were about to enter upon the 
other. 

On, on, Jackson sped, much delayed in his progress by 
the exhaustion of his troops, and the breaking down of his 
trains, and sorely pressed by the advancing forces of his 
pursuers. On June the sixth he had another severe en- 
counter with the National troops in a woody district in the 
southern outskirts of the town of Harris onburgh. In this 
engagement he first obtained a slight advantage, owing to 
the mismanagement of Colonel "Windham, who had the 
command of such of the Federal forces as were brought 
into ao.tion. The ground lost by this repulse to the Na- 
tional troops was, however, speedily regained by General 
Bayard, who made a vigorous attack upon the Rebels, and 
ultimately drova them back, and compelled them to renew 
their retreat. In this engagement the distinguished Rebel 
General Ashby, who covered the retreat with his whole 



VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 85 

cavalry force and tliree regiments of infantry, and who ex- 
hibited admirable skill and audacity, was killed. 

On June the eighth the two armies came into collision at 
Cross Keys, seven miles beyond Harris onburgh. Although 
Jackson had a much superior force to Fremont, throughout 
his retreat he had studiously avoided fighting a pitched 
battle, as he was fearful that the delay which would be 
caused thereby would prevent him from escaping the large 
force which w^as marching to the eastward, under the com- 
mand of General Shields, to outflank him. General Fremont 
was consequently the attacking party on this occasion. The 
battle took place on a Sunday, and the day was one of those 
bright and glorious ones which, at this period of the year, 
so intoxicate with their freshness, and so elevate the spirits. 
It is said that battles commenced on a Sunday are seldom 
successes for the attacking party, and we fear that we can 
not claim this battle as any exception to the general rule. 

Having upon the previous evening, and upon that morn- 
ing, caused reconnoissances to be made with a view of as- 
certaining the position of the Rebels, General Fremont ap- 
proached them about eleven o'clock, and the advance soon 
opened that preliminary fire which usually precedes a gene- 
ral engagement. The face of the country in this district is 
rolling, and covered at various points with woods, generally 
of oak, from the size of a small sapling to that of a man's 
body. The ground on which the battle was fought is a 
succession of hillocks, on which several farms stretch out 
for two or three miles from north to south, and form a belt 



86 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

of cleared land, which is lowest in the centre and gradually 
rises as the timber is approached in either direction. To 
the north, as if standing sentinel and gravely looking down 
upon the scene, rises a lofty mountain-peak, its top enveloped 
in a blue haze, and its steep sides bathed in the sunlight of 
a beautiful morning. Far off to the east, stretching up and 
down the Shenandoah, the distant peaks of the Blue Ridge 
form a background of indescribable beauty. 

The attack was commenced by General Fremont's right, 
the line of which extended for nearly a mile and a half. 
The Rebels were here driven back, and in this quarter the 
chances of success were strongly in favor of the Federals, 
until an order was given for this wing to withdraw slowly 
and in good order from the position it had gained, and pro- 
ceed to the relief of the left, which had suffered severely 
from the fire of the Confederates. 

On the left General Stahl's German brigade, whilst in the 
act of ascending a slope as they were about proceeding to 
the attack, were opposed by a murderous fire from the 
Rebels, which produced sad havoc and caused their ranks 
to be terribly thinned. They were consequently compelled 
to fall back. Some mountain howitzers were then directed 
upon the Rebels ; the cannonading became furious ; the 
deep thunders of the artillery reverberated through tlie 
valley ; the sharp crash of musketry rang through the 
woods ; shells went screaming on the errand of death ; and 
the cloud of sulphurous smoke which hung like a funeral 



VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 87 

pall over the advancing and receding waves, told too well 
the work of carnage and death then going on. 

Had Stahl been enabled to advance but a few feet far- 
ther, his troops would have had an opportunity to pour 
into the Rebels a fire which would have driven them before 
him. This, with the combined movement of the Federal 
troops on the right, and of those which already had pene- 
trated the centre, would doubtless have swept Jackson's 
entire line, would have put him to rout, would have cap- 
tured his guns, and would have gained a most comj)lete 
victory for the ISTational forces. But this was prevented by 
the mistake of an order, which had been forwarded to some 
regiments directing them to relieve the advancing party, 
having been construed into one to retire. 

The misfortune of this misunderstanding can scarcely be 
estimated. One more effort and tlie regiments which had 
forced themselves right up to the Rebel guns would doubt- 
less have gained a splendid triumph. But the opportunity 
was lost, and General Jackson again slipped through the 
fingers of the Federals, after Fremont had for fifteen days 
marched his army through mud and rain to catch him. 

There was for a time a lull in the storm — each party 
seeming satisfied to take a rest. Then in retiring, Jackson 
sent a few shells which fell in the midst of General Fre- 
mont's staff, and caused them to scatter far and wide. 
These compliments were returned, and a brisk artillery 
duel was kept up for a short time, and then all again was 
quiet. Night came on, the clouds of smoke which had ob- 



88 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

scurecl the sky disappeared, and the moon smiled down as 
peacefully upon the scene where carnage had held high 
carnival as if no ghastly features, pale in death, were 
there. 

On the following morning General Fremont again march 
ed with his troops in pursuit. They had not proceeded far 
before they reached Mill Creek Church, which had been 
used as a hospital by the Kebels, and in which they found 
several wounded Union soldiers. "Let it be said to the 
Rebels' credit," Avrites a gentleman who was present at the 
time, " that they treated our wounded humanely. Many 
left upon the field had blankets thrown over them and can- 
teens of water placed by their side, while they nearly all 
say that they were as well treated as the Rebels them- 
selves." 

The Federal loss in the battle of Cross Keys was about 
one hundred and twenty-five killed, and five hundred 
wounded. General Fremont states that upward of two 
hundred of the Confederates were counted dead in one 
field, and that many others were scattered through the 
Avoods. Several more of the dead and the entire of Jack- 
son's wounded had been removed in wagons under cover 
of the night. 

On the same day that the battle of Cross Keys was being 
fought, a minor action took place at Port Republic between 
the train-guard of Jackson's army and a small Federal 
force belonging to General Shields's division, and under the 



VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 89 

command of Colonel Carroll. This resulted in the repulse 
of the latter ; the forces engaged being more than two to 
one against him. On the following day occurred the bat- 
tle of Port Republic. 

While General Fremont was closely pressing Jackson in 
the rear, a portion of General Shields's command, under 
General Tyler, was moving on the east in advance of the 
main column, with the intention of reaching Waynesboro, 
on the Virginia Central Railroad, for the purpose of de- 
stroying the railroad, and thus cutting off Jackson's line of 
communication by that route with Gordonsville and Rich- 
mond. The troops under Colonel Carroll formed the ad- 
vance-guard of this force. Jackson was well aware of this 
plan to intercept him, and to frustrate it he brought into 
oi)eration that celerity of movement for which he was so 
celebrated. 

After Colonel Carroll's repulse on the Sunday, he fell 
back to and joined the troops under General Tyler. It was 
a part of General Shields's instructions to these officers that 
they should destroy the long bridge which crosses the She- 
nandoah at Port Republic, and by this means cut off Jack- 
son's retreat at this poiii* also. This, however, they were 
prevented from accomplishing. 

Jackson, continuing his retreat, reached Port Republic 
on the morning of the ninth, when he immediately de- 
spatched a force to attack General Tyler. This force was 
repulsed, but on recnforcements being received, the Confed- 
erates drove back the Federals and captured their guns, 



90 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

which could not be removed, owing to the horses having 
been killed or disabled, and the roads being so heavy that 
it was imjDossible for the men to drag them through the 
deep mud. 

During this time General Fremont's army moved in the 
direction of Port Republic without opposition. As it drew 
near the place a dense volume of smoke was seen rising in 
the air. The troops pressed on to discover the cause, but 
reached the river just as the last Rebel had crossed the 
Shenandoah ; arriving, however, in time to observe Jack- 
son's interminable train winding along like a huge snake in 
the valley beyond. Several Rebel regiments were drawn 
in line of battle on the opposite side of the Shenandoah. 
An unfordable river lay between the opposing armies, and 
the bridge was in flames. 

Thus ended the Federal pursuit of the fleet-footed Jack- 
son. General Fremont had left Franklin on Sunday, May 
the twenty-fifth, taking up his line of march for the Valley of 
Virginia. At Petersburgh he had left his tents and heavy 
baggage. With one exception, he had marched sixteen 
consecutive days. The rains had been heavy and severe, 
and the soldiers had been compelled to bivouac in water 
and mud, lying down in their drenched clothes to obtain a 
few hours' rest, so that they might be enabled to endure 
the fatigues of the coming day. Transportation had been 
difficult. Forage and provisions had been scarce, for the 
country had been swept clear thereof by former armies. 
Sometimes the soldiers had but a short allowance of bread ; 



VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 91 

sometimes tbey had none, whilst some of them had worn 
out their shoes, and were compelled to march barefooted. 
However, they endm-ed these trials with great patience. 
Under circimistances such as these, and after seven days 
of almost continuous skirmishing, was fought the battle of 
Cross Keys. It has been argued that if General Fremont 
had closely followed Jackson after this battle, the latter 
would have been attacked in both front and rear, and he 
would thus have been j^i'evented from making good his 
escape. The prostration of the Federal troops from the 
causes which, we have here related may possibly have been 
a barrier to this desirable consummation. 

It is much to be regretted that, during General Fre- 
mont's progress, some of his troops had conducted them- 
selves in a manner that necessitated their commander to 
issue an order, calling their attention to the many disor- 
ders and excesses and the wanton outrages upon property 
which had marked their line of march from Franklin to 
Port Republic. He considered that the magnitude of the 
evil should be summarily and severely checked. He, there- 
fore, threatened severe punishment for any similar offences 
that might occur in future. The men had entered dwell- 
ings and appropriated to themselves property of various 
kinds which fell in their way. It was stated that the 
Germans were the greatest offenders, but witnesses to 
these excesses state that these men were too often made 
the scapegoats for the offences of their comrades of Ameri* 
can birth. 



• 92 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

After Jackson had made his escape from his pursuers, he 
proceeded toward Stewardsville, passed through the Gap 
of the Blue Ridge mountains, and thence, via Gordonsville, 
to Richmond, there to take his part in the battles which' 
were to relieve that city from the presence of a besieging 
army. 

The state in which this charming Valley of Virginia was 
left by the contending armies of the North and the South, 
after they had trodden and retrodden its fertile fields, and 
after they had passed through and pillaged its pleasant 
towns, is thus pictured by one who was an eye-witness to 
the desolation which Avar had left behind : 

" A more beautiful country than this Valley of the She- 
nandoah God's sun never smiled on. The scenery is mag- 
nificent, but not with sterile peaks and frowning rocks. 
Green vestured fields and gentle, round-bosomed hills nes- 
tle down in the arms of great mountains, and you know 
they are quick with growing life, even while they slumber. 
It rather moves me to sympathy to see the trail of devasta- 
tion that the two armies have left after them. Meadows 
of clover are trodden into mud ; the tossing plumes of the 
wheat-fields along the line of march are trodden doAvn, as 
though a thousand reaping-machines had passed over and 
through them. Dead horses lie along the road, entirely 
overpowering the sweet scent of the clover-blossoms, and 
flinging out upon the air a more villainous stench than could 
by any possibility ascend from the left wing of the Tarta* 



VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 93 

riaii pit. Fences are not, landmarks have vanished, and 
all is one common waste." 

Before the war this Valley was dotted with happy homes, 
but the curtain had not descended upon this, the second 
act of the bloody drama, before these homes were tenant- 
less, and their former peaceful occupants were scattered 
like chaff before the piercing blast of the pitiless storm. 

Amid the dreadful scenes which were here enacted, 
Jackson did not omit to appeal to his Maker for support 
in the trying ordeal through which he had to pass. His 
secret devotions were on one occasion witnessed by the 
Colonel of an artillery regiment, who happened to be 
encamped close to his headquarters, and whose tent was 
so pitched, that from its rear he commanded a view of 
a corner of a field, surrounded by a wood, not far from 
Jackson's own tent. This spot could only be seen by 
those who were in either of these two tents. The 
Colonel states that twice a day for weeks, rain or sun- 
shine, he saw Jackson slip away to this secluded place — ■ 
unseen, as he believed, by no mortal eye. He Avould 
seat himself upon a small fence which bounded the field, 
and there he would remain often for an hour, with his 
hands clasped and his face turned upward, convulsed 
w^ith emotion, and the tears streaming down his face, 
deep in the performance of secret and agonizing prayer. 
Kothino: can be said to increase the value of thia evi- 
dence to prove the sincerity of the man. 



CHAPTEK YIII. 

THE SEVEN days' BATTLES BEFOEE EICHMOND. 

Fackson created a Major-General — ^McClellan Lands upon the Peninsula — 
Occupation of Yorktown — ^Williamsburgh — Hanover Court-House — Seven 
Pines — Fair Oaks — Stuart's celebrated Raid — ^Position and Number of 
the Opposing Forces— First Day : Battle of Oak Grove— Confederate 
Council of War— Second Day: Battle of Mechanicsville— Third Day: 
Battle of Gaines's Mill— The Battle- Ground— Jackson's Attack on the 
Federal Rear — The River Crossed by the Federal Right Wing — Council 
of War — Fourth Day : Battle of Garnett's Farm — Fifth Day : Battle of 
Peach Orchard — Battle of Savage's Station — Sixth Day : Battle of White 
Oak Swamp — Battle of Glendale — Seventh Day : Battle of Malvern Hill — 
Losses of the Combatants— Importance of Jackson's Services during the 
Week. 

Immediately after Jackson had foiled his pursuers in 
the Valley of Virginia, he hastened to unite his forces 
with those which were guarding the Confederate capital 
against the grand attack of General McClellan's army, then 
daily anticipated. Jackson steps upon this scene in the 
character of a Major-General, having been advanced to 
that position in consequence of the great military abilities 
which he had exhibited during the Valley campaign just 
terminated. 

Before entering into the particulars of the seven days' bat- 



i 



THE SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES. 95 

ties, it is advisable that we should refresh the reader's mem- 
ory by referring to a few of the leading events which pre- 
ceded this week — a week so terribly prominent in the cal- 
endar of our history. 

It having been conceived that Richmond could be more 
easily reached by the army of the Potomac if it traversed 
the Peninsula, and took advantage of the communication by 
water which it possessed, instead of having to cross the nu- 
merous rivers which intercept the road by Fredericksburgh, 
it was resolved to adopt the former route to the Rebel 
capital. General McClellan having made all his arrange- 
ments for the removal of his vast army from the Potomac 
to the vicinity of Fortress Monroe, in the middle of March 
issued a spirited and cheerful address to his troops, in which 
he informed them that the " period for inaction" had passed, 
and that he was about " to bring them face to face with the 
Rebels." 

At the beginning of April, he had landed his forces upon 
the eastern point of the Peninsula, and immediately com- 
menced moving upon Yorktown. He found that place 
strongly fortified, and it was not until the fourth of May that 
he obtained possession of it, the Rebels having evacuated 
the town during the preceding night. Before this time, 
the troops under General McDowell — upon which McClellan 
depended for assistance, by a flank movement at the head of 
the York River either encircling the Confederate forces or 
forcing them to retreat farther up the Peninsula — were re- 
moved from his command, to which cause has been attrib- 



96 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

iited the delay that occurred in the occupation of York- 
town. 

Following the retreating Rebels, McClellan came into col- 
lision with them on May the fifth, at Williamsburgh, where 
they stoutly contested his farther progress. From this place 
they were finally expelled, but the action resulted in great 
loss to the Federal forces, and at one period thereof it 
was decidedly in favor of the Confederates. On the follow- 
ing day, a minor action occurred at the head of the York 
River, where a force of Federals who had landed there were 
driven back under cover of their gunboats. 

The Federal army now advanced toward the banks of the 
Chickahominy, being, however, slightly impeded in its prog- 
ress by repeated skirmishes with the Rebels. On the twen- 
ty-seventh of May, a portion of McClellan's right wing, under 
command of General Fitz-John Porter, had an engagement 
with them at Hanover Court-House, and after a sharp con- 
flict succeeded in accomplishing the object of the mis- 
sion, which was to cut off railroad communication between 
Richmond and the North. 

General Casey's division, which formed the left wing, 
having crossed the Chickahominy, the Confederates took 
advantage of a severe thunder-storm — which they trusted 
would cause the river to be much swollen, and Casey's com- 
munication with the main body of the army thus cut off— to 
attack this force on the thirty-first of May, at the Seven 
Pines. The Confederates greatly outnumbered the Federals, 
and would doubtless have totally annihilated the division 



THE SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES. 97 

had it not been strongly reenforced. Some of the ground 
lost in the early part of the action was eventually regained, 
but at the close of the day the Rebels remained occupants 
of a portion of the Federal camp, and were in possession of 
several guns which they had captured. On the following 
morning the battle was resumed, when the Rebels were de- 
feated and*compelled to fall back upon Richmond. This 
second day's engagement is called the battle of Fair Oaks. 

At this time McCIellan was loudly calling for reenforce- 
ments, and it was naturally the object of the Confederates 
to prevent any addition to his forces. For this purpose, the 
latter planned Jackson's raid into the valley of the Shenan- 
doah, which we have already described, and the successful 
accomplishment of which, Jackson was informed by his 
superiors, would be the greatest service he could render 
to his country. 

Very little further of importance occurred until May the 
thirteenth, when the Confederate General J. E. B. Stuart, 
with a force of twelve hundred cavalry and a section of ar- 
tillery, left the Rebel lines near Richmond, and as a feint 
moved as if he Avas proceeding to reenforce Jackson, but 
afterAvards wheeled about and passed round the whole 
of the rear of the Union army, returning to his jDost on 
the fifteenth. During this dashing exploit, he took a num- 
ber of prisoners, and captured stores to a large amount. 

A brief reference to the situation of the opposing armies 
at the commencement of the seven days' contests, will here 
5 



98 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

be necessary to enable the reader to thoroughly understand 
the movements. If he will take a map of Virginia, and rnn 
his eye along the Virginia Central Railroad until it crosses 
the Chickahominy at the point designated as the Meadow 
Bridge, he will be in the vicinity of the position occupied 
by the extreme right of the Federal army. Tracing from 
this position a semi-circular line which crosses the Chicka- 
hominy in the neighborhood of the IsTew Bridge, and then 
the York River Railroad, further on, he arrives at a point 
south-east of Richmond, but a comparatively short distance 
from the James River, where rests the Federal left. To be 
a little more explicit, let the reader spread his fingers so that 
their tips will form as near as possible the arc of a ciicle. 
Imagine Richmond as situated on his wnst ; the outer edge 
of the thumb as the Central Railroad, the inner edge as the 
Mechanicsville turnpike ; the first finger as the Nine- Mile, 
or New-Bridge road ; the second as the Williamsburgh turn- 
pike, running nearly parallel with the York River Railroad ; 
the third as the Charles City turnpike, (which runs to the 
southward of the White Oak Swamp ;) and the fourth as 
the Darbytown road. Commanding these several avenues 
were the forces of McClellan. Tlie Confederate troops, with 
the exception of Jackson's corps, occupied a similar but of 
coiu'se smaller circle immediately around Richmond ; the 
heaviest body being on the centre, south of the York River 
Railroad. 

It will thus be seen that the Federal troops were situated 
on both sides of the Chickahominy, whilst the Confederates 



THE SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES. 99 

were confined exclusively to the right bank, scarcely a sin- 
gle scout crossing the stream. At the commencement of the 
siege — which may be considered to have extended from the 
twenty-second to the twenty-fifth of June — three Federal 
corps were stationed upon the Richmond side of the river, 
and two corps with General Stoneman's command on the 
other. One corps of the latter afterward crossed toward 
Richmond, making four upon that side, and General Mc- 
Call's division of Pennsylvania Reserves, which arrived on 
June the eighteenth, were added to the force which re- 
mained on the left bank. The left corps was commanded 
by General Keyes, and the rest, following in rotation toward 
the right, by Generals Heintzelman, Sumner, Franklin, and 
Porter, the latter's corps being that situated upon the left 
bank of the river, with its extreme right resting upon 
Meadow Bridge, about four miles north of Richmond, and 
forming the nearest approach of the Federal force to the 
Confederate capital. 

The Confederate army consisted of eight grand divisions, 
each of which corresponded to a Federal army corps. These 
were commanded by Generals Huger, D. H. Hill, Longstreet, 
Smith, Magruder, A. P. Hill, Rains, and Ewell. Huger was 
stationed opposite the Federal left wing, and the others 
along to the right, in the order in which we have given their 
names. General Jackson, upon his arrival, was assigned to 
the extreme left of the Confederate army, where Stuart's 
cavalry was also stationed. He was thus placed in juxta- 
position to Franklin's corps on the Federal right. 



100 STOxNEWALL JACKSON. 

During the month of June the Confederate army Avas 
strongly reenforced from the West and South-west, as well 
as by Jackson's troops, and their forces in and around 
Richmond, at t\w commencement of the seven days' battles, 
have been variously estimated at from two hundred to 
two hundred and fifty thousand men, but we conclude that 
one hundred and fifty thousand will more nearly apj^roach 
the actual number. To meet this vast force. General McClel- 
lan could not at the time muster more than eighty-six thou- 
sand men. 

FIRST DAY OAK GEOYE. 

Though Wednesday, June the twenty-fifth, was the day 
upon which the seven days' battles before Richmond com- 
menced, the operations on that day, so far as regarded the 
Confederates, were merely defensive. It was not until 
Thursday that the latter commenced those offensive pro- 
ceedings which they anticipated would, and which actually 
did, remove from the vicinity of their capital the JSTational 
forces so determinedly bent on its capture. 

Information was received on Tuesday that General Jack- 
son, with his own troops, along with those of Ewell and 
Whiting, was at Frederick's Hall, and that it was his inten- 
tion to attack tlie Federal right flank and rear, in order to 
cut off McClellan's communication with the White House, 
and to throw the I'ight wing of his army mto the Chicka- 
hominy. Tlie raid made by Stuart had induced the Federal 
commander to provide against this contingency, and he had 
consequently ordered to the James River, now relieved from 



THE SEVEN days' BATTLES. 101 

the presence of tlie fearful Merrimao, a number of trans- 
ports laden with commissary, quartermaster, and ordnance 
stores. General Stoneman was at the same time placed in 
cliarge of the cavalry on the right, Avith instructions to keep 
a vigilant watch over Jackson, and to give immediate in- 
formation of any advance of the Rebels from that direction. 

The right being thus guarded. General Heintzelman was 
directed to drive iii the Confederate pickets in the woods 
from tlieir front, in order to give the National forces com- 
mand of cleared fields still farther in advance. This object 
was gallantly accomplished, although stubbornly resisted, 
the fighting falling principally on Hooker's division. The 
engagement took place at Oak Grove, about a mile in ad- 
vance of the battle-field at Fair Oaks, and continued through- 
out the entire day of the twenty-fifth, commencing at nine 
o'clock in the morning and not terminating until ten o'clock 
at night. Just as the new line was gained. General McClel- 
lan was called from the field by intelligence which tended 
strongly to confirm the belief that Jackson was really ap- 
proaching. Such, however, was not the case, but these 
repeated alarms are sufiicient to prove with what fear any 
approach of the irresistless Rebel was viewed. 

The Confederates being now in sufiicient force to become 
the attacking party, they resolved upon ridding their capital 
from the presence of a besieging host. The plan proposed 
to be adopted having been thoroughly completed, a great 
council of war was being held at the Rebel headquarters, 
during the progress of the events which we have just nar- 



102 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

rnted. In it were assembled nenrly all that was eminent in 
tlie Rebel army. Johnston had been severely wounded at 
the battle of Seven Pines, and the mantle of the commandm* 
had fallen upon the shoulders of General Lee. Gazing cheer- 
fully over the countenances of his comrades, for each of 
whom he had a part already assigned, the new commander 
stood like a rock. " Thoughtfully his eyes wandered from 
one to the other, as though he wished to stamp the features 
of each upon his memory, with the feeling that he, perhaps, 
should never behold many of them again. Close beside him 
towered the knightly form of General Baldwin ; at his left 
leaned pensively Stonewall Jackson, the idol of his troops, 
impatiently swinging his sabre to and fro, as though the quiet 
room were too narrow for him, and he were longing to be 
once more at the head of his columns. A little aside, quietly 
stood the two Hills, arm in arm, while in front ot them old 
General Wise was energetically speaking. Further to the 
right stood Generals linger, Longstreet, Branch, Anderson, 
Whiting, Ripley, and Magruder, in a group. When all 
these generals had assembled, General Lee laid his plans be- 
fore them, and in a few stirring words pointed out to each 
his allotted task. The scheme had already been elaborated. 
It was compact, concentrated action, and the result could 
not fail to be brilliant. When the conference terminated, 
all shook hands and hastened away to their respective army 
corps, to enter upon immediate activity." * 

The plan of battle developed by the Confederates was, 

* Richmond Correspondent of tlie Cologne Gazette, 



THE SEVEN days' BATTLES. 108 

first, to make a vigorous flank movement upon the Federal 
extreme right, which was within a mile or tvro of the Cen- 
tral Railroad ; secondly, as soon as they fell back to the 
next road below, the Kebel divisions there posted were to 
advance across the Chickahominy, charge front, and in co- 
operation with Jackson, who was to make a detour, and at- 
tack the Federals in flank and rear, drive them still further 
on ; and finally, when they had reached a certain point 
known as " The Triangle," embraced between the Charles 
City, New Market, and Quaker Roads, all of which in- 
tersect, these several approaches were to be possessed by the 
Confederates ; the [N'ational forces were to be thus hemmed 
in and compelled either to starve, capitulate, or fight their 
way out with tremendous odds and topographical advan- 
tages against them. How this plan happened to fail, at 
least partially, in the execution, will appear in the course 
of our narrative* 

Looking at the position of the two armies, it will be seen 
that the vantage ground lay with the Southern army, for 
General McClellan had his forces necessarily on both sides 
of the Chickahominy, and, owing to the many ravines in 
the neighborhood, he could not, without great difficulty 
and much loss of time, execute his military movements. 
His front line reached over a distance of more than twenty 
miles in the form of a semi -circle, extending from the vicin- 
cinity of the James River toward Richmond and Ashland. 
The heights on the banks of the Chickahominy were, 
however, so fortified that his army, notwithstanding the 



104 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

great length of its line, had excellent defensive cover. The 
Confederate army occupied the inner side of the semi-circle, 
and the various divisions thereof being more contiguous 
to each other than those of the Federal army necessarily 
could be, they were more readily able to assist each other, 
whenever, from force of circumstances, any assistance should 
be required. 

SECOND DAY MECHANICSVILLE. 

Thursday dawned, and the morning was clear but warm. 
Jackson was in motion as early as three o'clock. His corps 
cTarmee^ strengthened by the addition of Whiting's divi- 
sion, now consisted of about thirty thousand men. He 
moved by a forced march from Ashland, twenty miles dis- 
tant from Richmond, for the purpose of commencing his 
outflanking operations. 

At Hanover Court-House he threw forward General 
Branch's brigades between the Chickahominy and Pamun- 
key Rivers, to establish a junction with General A. P. 
Hill, who had to cross the stream at MeadoAV Bridge. 
Jackson then bore away from the Chickahominy, so as to 
gain ground toward the Pamunkey, marching to the left of 
Mechanicsville and toward Coal Harbor, while Hill, keeping 
well to the Chickahominy, approached Mechanicsville, and 
there engaged the National forces. This Avas shortly after 
mid-day. The fight was opened with artillery at long- 
range, but the Rebels discovering the Federal superiority 
in this arm, foreshortened the range and came into closer 
conflict. Previous to this, however whilst the shells of the 



THE SEVEN days' BATTLES. 105 

Confederates were not destructive in the intrenchments of 
tlie Federals, the gmincrs of the latter played npon the ex- 
posed ranks of the former with fearful effect. The fight in- 
creased in fury as it progressed, and it finally became the 
most terrible artillery combat that the war had thus far 
witnessed. The uproar was incessant and deafening for 
hours. No language can describe its awful grandeur. The 
Kebels at last essayed a combined movement. Powerful 
bodies of troops rushed forward to charge the Federal 
lines, but they were ruthlessly swept away. Again and 
again the desperate fellows were pushed at the breast- 
works only to be more cruelly slaughtered than before. 

General McCall, whose division of Porter's corps was here 
engaged, in the mean time had his force strengthened by the 
brigades of Martindale and Griffin, of Morell's division. 
The volume of infantry firing was thus increased, and at 
dark, the Rebels retired from the contest, resigning the 
honor of the day to the Federals. 

While the battle of Mechanicsville was in jDrogress, an- 
other action took place at Ellyson's Mills, to the right or 
south-east of that place, and about a mile and a half distant 
therefrom ; but the two engagements occurred so near to 
each other that they may be considered as part of the same 
battle. At this latter place, the Federals had a battery of 
sixteen guns situated on elevated ground, and defended by 
epaulements, supported by rifle-pits. Beaver Creek, about 
twelve feet wade and waist-deep, ran along the front and 
left flank of this position, while abattis occupied the space 
5* 



106 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

between the creek and the battery. General Lee ordered 
this battery to be charged, but his troo23S were unable to ad- 
vance any nearer than the opposite side of the creek. The 
Rebels suffered very severely, during the engagement, and 
retired from the conflict about ten o'clock at night. 

Another occurrence also took place on the twenty-sixth of 
June which is worthy of being recorded. Colonel Lansing 
was ordered to proceed with the Seventeenth New-York 
and Eighteenth Massachusetts regiments to Old Church, 
about six miles east of Mechanicsville, there to intercept 
General Jackson, who was on his way to cut off the Federal 
communications with the White House. Jackson succeed* 
ed in separating Lansing's communication with the right 
wing of the Federal army, at that time fighting on the 
banks of Beaver Creek. The latter, however, was nlti 
mately enabled to make his way to Tunstall's Station npon 
the railroad, and from thence to the York River, where he 
was taken np by the transports. 

Whenever General Branch acted directly under General 
Jackson's command, he implicitly obeyed his instructions, 
and acted with energy and courage ; but when he was out of 
his commander's sight, he became nervous and unresolved 
how to act. On the present occasion he failed to carry out 
the orders which Jackson had distinctly given to him, and 
instead of advancing boldly he hesitated, and delayed his 
march from hour to hour. General Hill sent his Aid-de- 
Camp during the battle to order up Branch's brigade, but 
the latter was not to be found, and he did not make his ap- 



THE SEVEN days' BATTLES. 107 

pearance on the battle-field until niglit had put an end to 
the contest. 

It being now evident to General McClellan that Jackson 
was proceeding toward the Pamunkey, he considered that 
the position of his right wing was no longer tenable. lie 
therefore determined to concentrate his forces, and withdrew 
Porter's command to a position near Gaines's Mill, where 
he could rest both his flanks on the Chickahominy, and cover 
the most important bridges over that stream. As it was 
also evident that Jackson was intent upon seizing the public 
property on the banks of the Pamunkey, and cutting off the 
Federal retreat in that direction, Stoneman's command was 
moved swiftly down to finish operations there, and orders 
were issued for the removal or destruction of all public 
stores at White House. Meantime all trains and equipages 
of the right wing were withdrawn during the niglit to 
Trent's Bluff on the right bank of the Chickahominy, and 
the Avounded were conveyed to the hospital at Savage's Sta- 
tion — alas ! there to be deserted to the enemy they had 
beaten. These movements indicated that there was danger 
in the distance. 

THIED DAT GAINES's MILL. 

By daylight on Friday morning, General McCall had fall- 
en back in the rear of Gaines's Mill, and in front of "Wood- 
bury's bridge, w^here he Avas posted, his left joining the right 
of Butterfield's brigade, which rested on the woods and 
near to the swamps of the Chickahominy. Morell was on 
Lis right in the centre, and General Sykes's command, five 



108 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

thousand regulars, and Duryea's Zouaves, held the extreme 
right. The line occupied crests of hills, near the New Kent 
road, some distance east by south of Gaines's Mill. In ad- 
dition to these changes. General Slocum's division, about 
eight thousand strong, was moved across the river to sup- 
port Porter, as it was assumed that the Kebels w^ould re- 
appear in that quarter in stronger force than they had been 
on the previous day. General McClellan having received 
intelligence, in the course of the morning, that Longstreet'a 
corps was at Mechanicsville, ready to move down on either 
bank of the Chickahominy, according to circumstances, this, 
with other threatening movements of the Rebels on various 
parts of the centre and left, placed a limit to the number of 
reenforcements for the support of Porter. Under these cir- 
cumstances it was likewise impossible to AvithdraAv him to 
the right bank of the river by daylight, especially as the en- 
emy was so close upon him that the attempt could not have 
been made without severe loss, and would have placed the 
right flank and rear of the army at their mercy. It was 
consequently necessary to give battle upon and hold the 
position now occupied at any cost, and in the mean 
time perfect arrangements for the change of base to the 
James River. 

Let us now impart to the reader a knowledge of the 
ground in the vicinity of Gaines's Mill. For this purpose 
we will approach the scene from the Confederate lines. 
Emerging from the woods, the road leads to the left and 
then to the right round Gaines's house, where the whole 



«l 



THE SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES. 109 

ground, for the aren of fibont two miles, is an open, un- 
broken succession of undulating hills. Standing at the 
north door of the house, the whole country to the right, for 
the distance of one mile, is a gradual slope toAvard a creek, 
through which the main road runs up an open hill and then 
winds to the right. In front, to the left, are orchards and 
gulleys running gradually to a deep creek. Directly in 
front, for the distance of a mile, the ground is almost table- 
land, suddenly dipj^ing to the deep creek mentioned aboA^e, 
and faced by a timber-coA^ered hill AA^hich fronts the table- 
land. Beyond this timber-covered hill the country is again 
open and is a perfect plateau, AA^th a farm-house and out- 
houses in the centre, and the main road AAanding to the right 
and through all the Federal camps. To the south-east of 
Gaines's house is a large tract of timber, commanding all 
advances upon the main road. In this timber a strong body 
of Federal skirmishers Avere posted Avith artillery, to annoy 
the Confederate flank and rear, should they advance upon 
the Federal camps by the main road or over the table-lands 
to the north. 

Early in the morning a j)ortion of Longstreet's corps 
drove back such of the Federals as had been left in the vi- 
cinity of Mechanics ville, the latter retiring upon their new 
defensive line. The Confederates shortly after advanced 
along the entire line in the following order of battle : 
Longstreet on the right, resting on the Chickahominy 
BAvamp ; A. P. Hill on his left ; then Whiting ; then EavcII 
and Jackson's corps, under command of the latter general ; 



110 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

then D. H. Hill on the extreme left of the line, which ex- 
tended in the form of a crescent beyond !N"ew Coal Harbor, 
on the north, and toward Baker's Mills on the south. The 
battle commenced about mid-day by the batteries of D. H 
Hill opening a vigorous fire on the Federal right. He 
however, soon found it impossible to hold his position, and 
his guns were soon silenced. Rcenforced, he renewed the 
attack, but only to meet with a second repulse and con- 
siderable loss. A third attack met with no better success. 
The object, however, of the Confederates in this attempted 
flank movement on the right of the Federals was mainly 
intended to draw the attention of the latter from Long- 
street's contemplated attack on their left. 

The din of battle now veered round to the centre and 
the left. At about half-past three o'clock p.m., Longstreet 
commenced to drive the Federals down the Chickahominy. 
At four o'clock the battle raged with intense fury in the 
vicinity of Gaines's Mill, and upon the ground which we 
have described. Here the conflict lasted for nearly two 
hours. The columns surged backward and forward, first 
one yielding and then the other. The Federal centre made 
a desperate stand, but it was not until it had hurled its last 
fresh brigade against tlie Rebels that they were beaten 
back. The Confederates finding that they could not force 
the Federal centre, now threw their columns against its 
left. Here the roar of musketry increased in volume, and 
the conflict became more terrific as time sped on. The 
Confederates had suffered severely from the raking fire 



THE SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES. Ill 

•which the Federals had poured tipon them from the pLa- 
teaii. The latter swept the whole face of the country with 
their artillery, and would have annihilated the Rebel force 
if it had not been screened by the inequalities of the land. 
The Rebels descended into the deep creek and passed up 
the hill beyond, but so terrific w^as the hail-storm of lead 
which fell thick and fast around them, that it was with 
great difficulty their regiments could be induced to with- 
stand it. In fact, in one instance, one of their generals, 
sword in hand, threatened to behead the first man that 
hesitated to advance. The Federals were now compelled 
to withdraw their guns and take up a fresh position where- 
from to assail the foe, which was advancing from the woods 
and toward the plateau. Forward pushed the Confeder- 
ates. Officers had no horses — all v>^ere shot. Brigadiers 
marched on foot, regiments were commanded by captains, 
and companies by sergeants ; yet onward they rushed, with 
yells and colors flying, and backward, still backward fell 
the Federals. When the plateau was reached, the Confed- 
erates found in their front the Federal camps stretching far 
away to the north-east. Drawn up in line of battle were 
the commands of McCall and Porter and others. Banners 
darkened the air, and artillery vomited forth incessant vol- 
leys of grape, canister, and shell. Brigade after brigade of 
tjie Confederates was hurled against the Northern heroes. 
In vain did the brave Butterfield, with hat in hand, rally, 
cheer, and lead his men forward again and again. In vain 
did he cry, " Once more, my gallant men !" as a last rally- 



112 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

ing order. The opposing hosts were too strong to be with- 
stood. They assailed him in front, flank, and rear, and 
compelled him to fall back. 

The Federals now moved with the evident intention of 
flanking the Rebel force engaged on its left, but the latter 
pressed onward to the heart of the Federal position, and 
when the National troops had almost succeeded in carrying 
out their flanking operations, great commotion was heard 
in the woods. Volley after volley was repeated in raj)id 
succession. These welcome sounds were recognized and 
cheered by the Rebels. " It is Jackson," they shouted, 
" on their right and rear !" Yes, two or three brigades of 
Jackson's corps had approached from Coal Harbor and 
flanked the National forces. The fighting now increased 
in its severity. Worked up to madness, the Confederates 
dashed forward at a run, and drove the Federals back with 
irresistible fary. 

Wheeling their artillery from the front, the Federals 
turned part of it to break the Rebel left and save their own 
retreat. The earth trembled at the roar. Not one Con- 
federate piece had as yet opened fire ; all had thus fiir 
been done by the bullet and the bayonet. Onward pressed 
the Rebel troops, through camps upon camps, capturing 
guns, stores, arms, and clothing. They swept every thing 
before them. Presenting an unbroken, solid trout, and clos- 
ing in upon the Federals, they kept up an incessant succes- 
sion of volleys upon their confused masses. There was but 
one " charge !" and from the moment that the word of com- 



113 

mand was given, " Fix bayonets ! forward !" the Rebel ad- 
vance was never stopped, despite the awful reception which 
it met. 

" But where is Jackson ?" was the universal inquiry. 
He had travelled fast and was heading the flying foe. 
As night closed in, all Avas anxiety for intelligence from 
him. At seven o'clock, just as the victory was complete, 
the distant and rapid discharges of cannon told that Jack- 
son had fallen on the retreating columns. Far into the 
night his troops hung upon and harassed the hard-pressed 
National forces. 

General Jackson had accomplished his flanking march 
without encountering any serious resistance. Hardly had 
he arrived at the position marked out for him, ere he sent 
his columns to the charge. Notwithstanding the difficulties 
and exertions of the march Avhich his troops had executed 
on short allowance, he flung them at once upon the Feder- 
als. In vain was all the courage, all the bold manoeuvring 
of the latter. Like a tempest. General Stuart and his cav- 
alry swept down upon them, and hurled every thing to the 
earth that stood in their way. Although the Federals had 
at first made obstinate resistance, they ultimately lost 
ground and fell back, throwing away arms, knapsacks, blan- 
kets — in fine, every thing that Avould impede their flight. 
Jackson could with a clear conscience issue the order : 
" Enough for the day." None of the other generals had 
performed their task Avitli such rapidity and such success as 
he, and therefore the fruits of his victory were unusually 



114: STONEWALL JACKSON. 

large. The booty was immense ; Liit in a strategetic point 
of view,- Jackson's success was of far greater importance, 
since it completely cut off General McClellan from Lis orig- 
inal base on the York Kiver. When, therefore, the triumph 
of his arms became known at the Confederate headquarters, 
the rejoicings bordered on frenzy, and all counted with ^er- 
feet certainty upon the destruction or capture of the entire 
Federal force. 

With the close of the day terminated the terrible scene 
of strife. 

The army of the Potomac now occupied a very singular 
position. One portion of it was situated on the south side 
of the. Chickahominy, fronting Richmond, and confronted 
by General Magruder. The other portion was on the north 
side of the river, and had turned its back upon Richmond, 
and fronted destruction in the persons of Lee, Longstreet, 
Jackson, and the two Hills. 

By this engagement, General Stoneman's command had 
been separated from the rest of the army. Upon the pre- 
vious day he had been scouting near Hanover Court-Hciise, 
and after doing all that he could in the contests of both 
days to harass the Rebel flank and rear, he retired to the 
White House, whence he proceeded down the Peninsula to 
Fortress Monroe. 

During the night the final withdrawal of the Federal 
right wing across the Chickahominy was completed, with- 
out difficulty or confusion, a portion of the regular troops 



115 

only remaining on tbe left bank until early on tlic follow 
ing morning, when the bridges were burned, and the whole 
army concentrated on the right bank of tlie river. 

During the evening of the twenty-seventh, General 
McClellan's determination to change his base to the James 
River was for the first time whispered abroad. The plan 
was naturally very much canvassed, and the movement was 
considered a most critical one, especially as it had to be 
taken under compulsion. The tents of General McClellan's 
headquarters, which had been pitched in Doctor Trent's 
field, near the bank of the river, were moved at dusk to Sav- 
age's Station, on the railroad. "At night, as the several 
brigades came over the bridge, and clustered on the borders 
of the swamp, one single tent stood on the hillside, and that 
vv^as General McClellan's. At eleven o'clock a council of 
war was held in front of this tent, in which the General 
commanding, corps commanders, with their aids, among 
them the French Princes and the General of Engineers, took 
part. A large fire had been lighted just beyond tlie arbor 
in front, and its blaze lighted up the faces of the generals as 
they sat in the arbor, which formed a pavilion for the tent. 
The conference was long and seemingly earnest. Tiiis was 
the first council called by General McClellan since he took 
the field, and here he disclosed his plans of reaching tlie 
James River." * 

Keyes's line, which was on the extreme left, resting on 

• "Leaves from the Diarj of an Army Surgeon," by Thomas T. Ellis, M.D. 



116 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Wliite Oak Swamp, was extended during the niglit, and the 
Federal artillery and transportation trains were ordered to 
prepare to move forward. That night General Casey was 
also directed to destroy all public property at the White 
House which could not be removed ; to transport the sick 
and wounded to a place of safety, and to retire himself and 
rejoin the army on the James River. Friday night was thus 
actively and mournfully passed. The troops were ignorant 
of the true position, and it was desirable to conceal the truth 
from them. It was feared that the Rebels would renew 
their attack on the following morning, and every preparation 
was made to resist them successfully. The defensive right 
of the Federals was disposed on Trent's Bluffs, where it Avas 
supposed that the crossing of the Rebels might be success- 
fully 023i)osed. The night of Friday, June the twenty-sev- 
enth, was gloomy, but it was felicity itself when compared 
with those of the following Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and 
Tuesday. 

FOURTH DAY — GAENETT's FAKM. 

Saturday daAvned hot and cheerless to the National forces. 
No sound of a hostile gun disturbed the dread stillness until 
nine o'clock. The j^rofound quiet of the morning became 
almost oppressive, so great was the contrast between its 
calmness and the fiery storm of the previous day. Shortly 
after that hour, however, the ominous silence which prevailed 
was broken by an awful cannonade, which opened from two 
forts in Garnett's field — a battery at General Porter's old 



THE SEVEN DAYS* BATTLES. 117 

position, and another below it — on the left bank of the Chick- 
ahominy. The fire was terrible, and compelled the forces 
upon which it was launched to abandon the strongest natu- 
ral position on the whole Federal line. The troops attacked 
fell back a few hundred yards to the woods and threw up 
breastworks out of range. The Rebels, content with their 
success, ceased firing, and quiet was not again disturbed 
that day. The silence of the Confederates was explained 
that night by a negro slave who had escaped from his mas- 
ter at headquarters in Richmond. He said a despatch had 
been sent by Jackson to Magruder, avIio remained in com- 
mand in front of Richmond, expressed thus : " Be quiet. 
Every thing is working as well as we could desire." Omi- 
nous words ! 

Saturday was also marked by the capture of the Fourth 
New-Jersey (Stockton's) regiment, the Eleventh Pennsylva- 
nia, and the famous "Bucktails," with their regimental 
standards. Also by rapid and successful movements of 
Jackson and Stuart, between the Chickahominy and the 
Pamunkey, in which they took the York River Railroad, cut 
off McClellan's communication with his transports, and des- 
troyed his line of telegraph. Meanwhile, measures were tak- 
en by t]\e Federals to increase the number of bridges across 
the White Oak Swamp. The trains were set in motion early 
in the day, and they continued moving along the swamp day 
and night until all had passed. Endless streams of artillery 
trains, wagons, and funereal ambulances, poured down the 
roads from all the camps, and plimged into the narrow fun* 



11^ STONEWALL JACKSON. 

nel whicli was now the only hope of escape. It was abso- 
lutely necessary for the salvation of the army and the cause, 
that the wounded and mangled heroes Avho lay moaning in 
physical agony in the hospitals, should be deserted and left 
in the hands of those against whom they had so bravely 
fought. 

Another fearful night was spent, but it was without catas- 
trophe. Officers were on horseback throughout the greater 
part of the night, ordering on the great caravan and its 
escorts. There was again no wink of sleep, nor peace of 
mind, for any who realized the peril of his country in those 
dread hours. 

FIFTH DAY — PEACH OECHAED ; SAVAGe'S STATION. 

At daylight, General McClellan was on the road. Thou- 
sands of cattle and wagons, and immense trains of artillery, 
intermingled with infantry and cavalry, choked up the nar- 
row road. Generals Sumner's, Heintzelman's, and Frank- 
lin's corps, under command of the first named, were left to 
guard the rear, with orders to fall back at daylight, and 
hold the enemy in check until night. At no point along the 
line were the Federals more than three fourths of a mile 
from the Confederates, whilst in front of Sedgwick's line, 
the latter were not over six hundred yards distant. It was 
therefore necessary to move with the greatest caution, so as 
to conceal from the enemy the nature of their movements. 
Fortunately, however, by skilful secresy, column after col- 
umn was marched to the rear — Franklin first, Sedgwick 



THE SEVEK DAYS* BATITLES. 119 

next, then Richardson and Hooker, and lastly the knightly 
Kearny. 

A mile had been swiftly traversed when these splendid 
columns quickly turned at bay. The Confederates, keen- 
scented and watchful, had discovered the retrograde move- 
ment, and quick as thought were swarming and yelling at 
their heels. They were quickly met by fearful volleys of 
musketry and artillery, and all who were left of the slaugh- 
tered Rebel column fled howling back. Fresh troops step- 
ped forth, and they, too, were sent surging back, until finally 
the Confederates retreated, content to watch and wait a hap- 
pier moment to assail that desperate front. This engage- 
ment, which lasted for four hours, took place at Peach Or- 
chard. The Federal troops Avhich were engaged in it, hav- 
ing held the position as long as was necessary, marched on 
to Savage's Station in order to concentrate with other corps. 

Toward noon the line had retired several miles, and 
rested behind Savage's Station to destroy the public pro- 
perty v,^hich had accumulated there. A locomotive and a 
train of cars were started and sent plunging madly into the 
Chickahominy. Ammunition was exploded, and the match 
was applied to stores of every description, until nothing 
was left to welcome the Confederates, who were closely 
treading in the Federal footsteps. 

The advancing column and all its mighty train was in due 
course of time swallowed up in the maw of the dreary for- 
est. It swept onward, onward, fast and furious, like an 
avalanche. But the march was as orderly as on any ordi- 



120 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

nary occasion, only swifter. It seemed marvellous that such 
caravans of wagons, artillery, horsemen, soldiers, camp-fol- 
lowers, and other impedlTyienta of an army should press 
through the narrow road with so little confusion. 

The Confederates, under Magruder, pressed closely on 
the Federal rear. After the latter retired from Peach Or- 
chard, the former entered the camping-ground to find almost 
every thing of value either removed or destroyed-. The 
Rebels then followed on to Savage's Station, guided thither 
by the dense volume of smoke which was seen to issue from 
the woods, and betokened the destruction which was in 
progress. Arriving at the station about four o'clock p.m., 
the Rebels made a furious onslaught on the Federal rear, 
commanded by General Heintzelman, which engagement 
raged hotly for about three hours. The Federals held the 
Confederates in check, fighting and retiring until they 
reached White Oak SAvamp. Here the fight continued 
until darkness put an end to the contest. This battle in 
the forests was a fearful one. Long lines of musketry vom- 
ited forth their liquid fire, while nature, as if emulous of 
man's fury, flashed its lightnings and rolled its grand thun- 
der over the distant domes of Richmond. So mingled were 
the flash and roar of heaven's artillery wdth the fire and din 
of battle, that it was at times difficult to decide w^hich was 
the power of God, and w^hich the conflict of man. No com- 
bination of the dreadful in art and the magnificent in na- 
ture was ever more solemnly impressive. It was a Sunday 
battle. 



THE SEYExNT DAYS' BATTLES. 121 

The Federal rear crossed the swamp under cover of 
night, whilst the Confederates lay on their arms with the 
design of renewing the battle on the return of daylight. 
Whilst Magruder was busily engaged pressing the National 
forces on the south side of the Chickahorainy, the ever-ac- 
tive Jackson and the redoubtable Stuart were not less ac- 
tive on the north. Dashing down to the White House, the 
latter succeeded in capturing an immense quantity of sup- 
plies, ammunition, ordnance, a balloon, the rolling-stock of 
the raih'oad, and fifteen hundred j^risoners, besides burning 
several large transports at the wharves. It was during 
this day (Sunday) that the Confederates became alive to 
the fact that General McClelian had succeeded in eluding 
them, and that he had stolen a march of twelve hours on 
General linger, who had been placed in a position on his 
flank to watch his movements. So confidently had the 
Rebels calculated upon capturing the Federal army, that 
they were greatly mortified at the discovery of the fact that 
they had been out-generalled. 

SIXTH DAY WHITE OAK SWAMP ; GLENDALE. 

About midnight on Sunday the lights were still blazing 
at the Federal headquarters. The commander was yet 
working with unyielding devotion ; aids were still riding 
fist, but all else was silent. Presently, and the prostrate 
soldiers were startled from their slumbers by Avhat ap- 
peared to be the terrific uproar of battle. Again and again 
the thundering sound was heard. It rolled sublimely away 
6 



122 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

off on the borders of the Chickahominy. Tlie Rebels have 
crossed the river and are destroying the Federal right wing 
in the darkness. Such was the general impression, but tlie 
illusion — a natural one when the sounds of cannon and of 
musketry are dinning in every ear — was speedily dispelled. 
A dark cloud appeared in the horizon, and approached 
nearer and nearer, until at last it hung like a canopy over 
the black forest, and above the weary warriors. 

Monday morning beamed like its predecessor, brilliantly 
and hotly. Until this day the Confederates evidently had 
proceeded upon the supposition that General McClellan was 
intending to retire to the Pamunkey, and the appearance 
in the north of the Federal cavalry and infantry — which we 
have already alluded to as having been severed from the 
rest of the army whilst watching the movements of Jack- 
son — served to impress the Rebels with this idea. It was 
plain by this time, however, that the Federal intentions had 
become apparent to the Rebels, but the trains had been 
hurried on so rapidly that they had now nearly passed the 
point at which the latter could make any flank movement 
upon them. 

At daybreak the Rebels resumed the pursuit of their fly- 
ing foes. The troops of Generals D. II. Hill, Whiting, 
Ewell, and Jackson, under the command of General Jack 
son, crossed the Chickahominy and followed the Federals 
on their track by the Williamsburgh road and Savage's 
Station. Generals Longstreet, A. P. Hill, Huger, and Ma- 
gruder at the same time proceeded la^ the Charles City 



123 

road on the south, with the intention of cutting them 
off. Jackson came up with the Federal rear about eleven 
o'clock, at White Oak Swamp. The Federals had crossed 
the swamp and the bridge had been destroyed, and their 
artillery was posted so as to command the road and the 
crossing. Jackson ordered his artillery to be brought 
forward, under cover of a hill on the north bank of the 
swamp, and then to be thrown rapidly upon its crest 
and suddenly open fire upon the Federal batteries. This 
was about noon. The artillery duel which then commenced 
and continued with great spirit and determination until 
night closed the scene, was probably the most severe fight of 
field artillery which has taken place during the war. Jack- 
son made some desperate efforts to cross the creek, but he 
was repulsed and kept back by General Smith's brigade, 
while the main body of Heintzelman's corps passed on to- 
ward the James River. 

General A. P. Hill, who in the absence of Longstreet 
commanded the trooj^s moving upon the Charles City 
road, came up with the Federals about five o'clock in the 
afternoon, at the Cross-roads, or Glendale, where he at- 
tacked Heintzelman's corps on the flank with much fierce- 
ness. During the evening the gunboats Aroostook and 
Galena, on the James River, got in range of the Confeder- 
ate masses advancing from Richmond, and opened upon 
them with fearful havoc, the direction in which they 
should fire having been indicated by the signal corps. The 
Rebels were finally repulsed by a vigorous charge led by 



124 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

General Heintzlemjin in person. The loss on both sides 
of tins engagement A^^as very great. Portions of nearly all 
the Federal corps were engaged, and Generals McGall 
and Reynolds were taken prisoners. The Confederate 
forces in action were A. P. Hill's and Longstreet's, com- 
manded by the former. Magruder did not arrive mitil 
the battle was over, when he moved npon and occupied the 
battle-field. General Hill's troops being almost prostrated 
from their long and toilsome fight, and from their tremen- 
dous losses. 

The Confederate President was on the field during the 
day, and had a narrow escape. He had taken a position in 
a house near the scene, when he was advised by General 
Lee to leave it at once, as it was threatened with danger. 
He had scarcely complied with the advice before the house 
was literally riddled with shell from the Federal batteries. 

SEVENTH DAY IMALVERN HILL. 

By an early hour on Tuesday morning General McClellan 
had concentrated the entire of his forces at Malvern Hill, 
and in close proximity to the James Piver. The troops 
were j^laced in position to ofier battle to the Rebels should 
they renew the attack, the left of the line resting on the 
admirable position of Malvern Hill, with a brigade in 
the low ground to the left, watching the road to Richmond. 
The line then followed a line of heights nearly parallel to 
the river, and bent back through the woods nearly to 
the James River on the right. General McClellan relied 



THE SEVEN days' BATTLES. 125 

on the left for the natural advantages of the position. On 
the right, where tlie natural strength was less, some little 
cutting of timber was done, and the roads blocked. Al- 
though the Federal force was small for so extensive a posi- 
tion, its commander considered it necessary to hold it at 
any cost. 

Tuesday, the first of July, was not a cheerful day for the 
Federals. The prospect was not a pleasant one. The Prince 
de Joinville, always gay and active as a lad, and always 
where there was battle, had gone. The Count de Paris, 
heir to the Bourbon throne, and the Duke de Chartres, his 
brother — the two chivalric and devoted aids to General 
McClellan, on whose courage, fidelity, intelligence, and ac- 
tivity he safely relied, and who served with him to learn the 
art of war — suddenly, without previous warning, took pas- 
sage on a gunboat, and fluttered softly down the river. Two 
ofiicers of the English army, who had also accompanied the 
Federal commander, and who had intended to remain with 
the army until Richmond v/as captured, announced their 
intention to leave in the first boat. These departures were 
at least ominous. The paymasters were advised to deposit 
their treasure on a gunboat. People looked gloomy. It had 
been stated that by the time the army reached Malvern Hill, 
the river at that point would be full of transports. On Mon- 
day, at noon, there was not one there, excepting a schooner 
laden with hay. By Tuesday evening, however, several 
steamers and a few forage-boats had arrived. 

On Tuesday morning the Confederates renewed their pur* 



126 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

suit. The divisiony of D. H. Hill, Wliiting, Ewell, and 
Jackson — the three latter under tlie command of Jackson — 
crossed the White Oak Bridge, Hill's division being to the 
right and Jackson's to the left. About three o'clock in the 
afternoon, they took their position to the left of tlie Rebel 
line, Longstreet, A. P. Hill, Magruder, and Huger, forming 
the right. In this order they advanced toward the lines of 
the Federals under the fire of artillery from land and 
water. Shortly after four o'clock, the rage of battle com- 
menced. For an hour and a half battery after battery and 
regiment after regiment were advanced to the front, to be 
in turn driven back by the iron hail of the Federal artillery 
and the tremendous projectiles showered forth by the Na- 
tional gunboats. During this time, the indomitable Jackson 
assailed the Federals with that energy which he was ever 
wont to display. 

Great was the slaughter in the Kebel ranks, and fruitless 
was their attempt to dislodge the Federals from the position 
they held, and wdiere they had chosen to turn at bay and 
give battle to their eager pursuers. The sun of tha first of 
July set upon the retiring columns of the Confederate host, 
and wdien night came on the final battle of the Peninsular 
cainpaign had become a matter of history. 

I^et us picture to the reader the appearance of this battle- 
field, as it met the eye a few days after the termination of 
the strife. The entire district appeared as if the lightnings 
of heaven Lad scatned and blasted it. The forests showed, 
iu the splintered branches of a thousand trees, the fearful 



127 



havoc of the artillery. The liouses were riddled, the fences 
utterly demolished, the earth itself ploughed up in many 
cases for yards. Here stood a dismantled cannon, there a 
broken gun-carriage. Thick and many were the graves, the 
sods over Avhich bore the marks of the blood of their occu- 
pants. On the plateau, across whose surface for hours tlie 
utmost fury of the battle raged, the tender corn that had 
grown up as high as the knee betrayed no sign of having 
ever laughed and sung in the breeze of early summer. Every 
thing, in short, but the blue heavens above, spoke of the 
carnival of death which had been there so frightfully cele- 
brated. 

It is needless to state that the losses on both sides in the 
seven days' battles were very great. The Federal loss in 
killed, wounded, and missing, has been officially given at 
about fifteen thousand. There is no official announcement 
of the Confederate loss, but, in consequence of the superior- 
ity of the artillery which the Federals brought into action, 
it must have exceeded that sustained by the latter. 

It is impossible to peruse the narrative of the memorable 
events which occurred in the vicinity of Richmond during 
this historic week, without being convinced that General 
Jackson v^as in no small degree instrumental in compelling 
the Federal forces to raise their siege of the city. Before 
the Confederates commenced their offi^nsive operations, we 
find his name a tower of strength to them, and a source of 



128 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

continual disquietude to the Federal army. It is easy to 
observe liow the approach of this ubiquitous general was 
feared by the latter. Rumor followed rumor that he was 
drawing nigh to the Federal right, each succeeding rumor 
only tending to intensify the terror which the previous 
rumors had originated. 

At the battle of Gaines's Mill — the only one of the series 
which can be claimed as a Confederate victory — it is evident 
that the decisive bloAV was struck by Jackson when he out- 
flanked his foes and attacked them so mercilessly on their 
rear. In the future operations consequent on tlie Federal 
retreat, we find him ever active. Placed in prominent com- 
mand, he harassed the rear of the retreating army until il 
was considered necessary that the pursuit should bo aban- 
doned. General Lee was well aware of the unsurpassed 
energy and the unweariness of his companion in arms, and 
if he gave to him a lion's work, he knew that it would be 
performed in a manner befitting its importance. It was long 
before dawn on the first day of the Confederate attack, that 
Jackson moved from Ashland to take up the position which 
had been allotted to him ; as day succeeded day in this 
week of carnage, he was unwearied in his activity ; and it 
was not until the last shot had been fired in the last battle, 
that he sheathed his sword and retired from the conflict. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST GEXEKAL POPE. 

Organization of Pope's Army — His Address and Orders to his Troops — 
Strength of his Army — Confederate Plan to Crush him — Commences to 
Advance — He is opposed by Jackson — Battle of Cedar Mountain — Nar- 
row Escapes — Jackson's Official Report — Losses in the Battle — The Field 
of Operations removes to near Washington — Pope retires behind the 
Rappahannock — Stuart's Cavalry Raid — Pope's Papers Captured — Jack- 
son's March upon the Federal Right Flank — Reaches Manassas Junction — 
Feast of his Famished Soldiers — Pope's Project to capture him — Critical 
Position of Jackson — Battle of Groveton — Jackson reenforced by Lee 
and Longstreet — Second Battle of Bull Run — Federal Defeat — Pope re- 
tires to Centreville — Battle at Chantilly — Jackson's Share in the Cam- 
paign. 

On the twenty-sixth of June, the ISTational forces, under 
Generals Fremont, Banks, and McDowell, were consolidated 
into one army under the name of the Army of Virginia, and 
General Pope was assigned by the President to the chief 
command. General Fremont objected to be thus j^laced in 
a subordinate command, and at his own request he was re- 
lieved from duty, and the corps which he would have com 
manded in the new army was placed under General Sigel. 

It was against this army that General Jackson was called 
upon to act, after he had reorganized his forces at the close 
of the battles before Richmond, in which they had suffered 
6* 



130 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

severely, and were considerably lessened in numbers. Gen- 
eral Pope was beginning to threaten Riclimond from the 
North, and the new aspect of affairs drew the attention of 
the Confederates from General McClellan's forces who were 
resting at Il&rrison's Landing, ^preparatory to their evacu- 
ation of the Peninsula. 

On the eleventh of July, General Halleck was assigned 
to the command of the whole land forces of the United 
States, as General-in-Chief. 

Shortly after General Pope entering upon his new com- 
mand, he issued an address to the officers and soldiers of his 
army which was particularly remarkable for the pretentious 
language in which it was clothed. He also issued several 
orders in which he declared that his troops " should subsist 
upon the country in which their operations are carried on ;" 
and pointed out the manner in which celerity of movement 
could be best secured by his army. He notified the peoj)le 
of his department that they should be held responsible for 
any injury done to railroad-trains, bridges, and telegraph- 
lines, or for any attacks upon trains of strjtggling soldiers by 
guerrilla bands ; and stated that residents within five miles 
of any place where any such outrage occurred should be com- 
pelled to repair the damage done, or be assessed therefor ; 
and that individuals detected in any outrages against proper- 
ty or persons should be shot without waiting for civil process. 
He also directed that disloyal male citizens within the lines 
of his army should be arrested and sent beyond the lines un- 
xess they took the oath of allegiance to the United States and 



THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST GENERAL POPE. 13 1 

gave security for their good behavior ; and notified that 
persons violating such oath would be shot. A retaliatory 
order issued by the Confederate President, declared that in 
consequence of General Pope's threatened arrest of disloyal 
citizens, that general and all commissioned officers serving 
under him should not be considered as soldiers, and there- 
fore should not be entitled to the benefit of the cartel for 
the parole of prisoners of war ; and that in the event of 
their being captured they should be held in close confine- 
ment as long as General Pope's order should remain in force. 
The efiective strength of General Pope's army at the com- 
mencement of his campaign was thirty-eight thousand in- 
fimtry and artillery, and about five thousand cavalry. These 
forces were scattered over a wide district of country not 
within supporting distance of each other ; and General Pope 
states that he found many of the brigades and divisions 
badly organized and in a demoralized condition, and that 
the cavalry was badly mounted and armed, and in poor con- 
dition for service. He took an early opportunity not only 
to reorganize his army, but to concentrate as far as possible 
all the movable forces under his command; consequently 
Sigel and Banks's forces were ordered from the valley of 
tlie Shenandoah to Sperryville on the east side of the Blue 
Ridge, and part of McDowell's force to Waterloo Bridge, 
a point between Warrenton and Sperryville. The remainder 
of McDowell's corps Avas left at Falmouth, opposite Freder- 
icksburgh, to cover the crossing of the Rappahannock at 
that point, and to protect the railroad between it and Acquia 



132 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Creek, until the arrival of General Burnside's forces, who 
^.vere on tlieir way from North-Carolina to Fredericksburgh. 
These movements Avere in progress during the time the bat- 
tles near Kichmond were being fought. Their object had 
been to draw oiF a portion of the Confederate forces from 
McClellan's front ; but the retreat of the latter commander 
now enabled General Lee to oppose the greater part of his 
army to General Pope. General Pope was now called uj^on 
to resist at all hazards any advance of the Confederates 
toward Washington, and to delay and embarrass tlieir move- 
ments so as to gain time for the removal of the Army of the 
Potomac to the banks of the Rappahannock. 

In pursuance of this j)lan, se\^eral cavalry expeditions 
were despatched from Fredericksburgh to destroy the rail- 
road communication between Richmond and the ISTorth and 
the North-west, the latter point leading to the valley of the 
Shenandoah. These expeditions Avere completely successful. 
At the same time General Banks sent all his cavalry and a 
brigade of infantry on a forced march to Culpeper Court- 
House, which place was taken 2:)ossession of, and the cav- 
alry pushed forward to Orange Court-House, where tliey 
destroyed the railroad and Confederate stores and muni- 
tions of war, and burned the bridge which crossed the 
Rapidan. After this Avas accomplished, a force Avas des- 
patched to GordonsA^ille Avith instructions to destroy the 
railroad east and Avest of that place, but on the sixteenth of 
July, before they were enabled to reach it, the toAvn Avas 
entered by the advance of Jackson's forces under EavcII, 



THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST GE^EKAL POPE. 133 

and tlie proposed movement was thereby rendered imprac- 
ticable. 

General Lee had despatched Jackson with a corps cVarmee 
of about twenty-five thousand men to check Pope's advance 
Tills corps consisted of the old Stonewall division, now 
under the command of General Taliaferro, and the divi- 
sions of Ewell and A. P. Hill. Lee then left a small force to 
watch General McClellan, and proceeded with the main 
body of his army as rapidly as possible to join Ueneral 
Jackson ; but the movement was not accomplished as 
speedily as was desirable, in consequence of deficiency in 
the means of transportation. Lee had hoped, with his 
imited forces, to crush Pope's army before McClellan could 
come to his relief, but a sudden rain-storm so swelled the 
Rapidan River, rendering it necessary to wait some time 
before it could be crossed, that the plan was prevented in 
being carried out, and gave Pope, who took the alarm, 
time to retire rapidly behind the Rappahannock. 

On July the twenty-ninth, General Pope left Washington 
with his staff for the headquarters of his army in the field. 
All the preparations having been completed, on the seventh 
of August he instructed General Banks to move forAvard 
from the vicinity of Little Washington to a point midway 
between Sperryville and Culpeper, McDowell having been 
ordered on the previous day to advance Rickett's division 
to Culpeper Court-House. He had thus on that day twen- 
ty-eight thousand infantry and artillery assembled along the 
turnpike from Sperryville to Culpeper. Sigel's corps waa 



134 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Stationed at Sperryville, Buford's cavalry at Madison Court- 
House, and Bayard's cavalry near Rapidan Station, the 
point where the Orange and Alexandia Railroad crosses 
the Rapidan River. On the eighth, General Bayard was 
compelled to fall back slowly from his advanced position on 
the Rapidan, in the direction of Culpeper Court-IIouse, in 
consequence of the advance of Jackson's forces, who were 
reported to be marching not only upon Culpeper, but on 
Madison Court-House. 

In consequence of these movements of the Rebels, Gene- 
ral Pope considered ife advisable to concentrate his entire 
force near Culpeper, and- to push forward Crawford's bri- 
gade of Banks's corps in the direction of Cedar Mountain,* 
as a support to General Bayard, who was falling back in 
that direction. At the same time a force was so placed 
that, if necessary, it could protect Madison Court-IIouse. 

Owing to a misunderstanding of the order he received, 
General Sigel did not arrive at Culpeper Court-House until 
several hours after the time that he should have reached 
that point. Consequently, on the morning of the nhith. 
General Pope was compelled to direct Banks to move for- 
ward to Cedar Mountain Avith his whole corps, and tlieie 
join Crawford's brigade, instead of ordering Sigcl's corps to 
the front, as he had intended. 

General Jackson moved forward from Gordonsville short- 
ly before dawn on the morning of Friday, the eighth. About 

* This mountain, wliicli is a " suf^ar-loaf " eminence, is sometimes called 
Slaughter Mountain, it being the property of the Rev. D. F. Slaughter. 



THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST GENERAL POPE. 135 

noon his cavalry came into contact with those of General 
Bayard, and after a short engagement drove them back. 
The Confederate troops encamped for the night at a place 
called Garnett's Farm. Early on the morning of the ninth, 
they again took up their line of march, and during the 
morning found the Federal cavalry drawn up in line of 
battle to receiA^e them. After waiting some time to find 
out their intentions. General Ewell ordered his artillery to 
fire upon them, which had. the efiect of compelling them to 
seek the cover of the woods. Jackson's infantry then ad- 
vanced, and during the afternoon his force took up a strong 
position uj)on the side of Cedar Mountain. 

In the mean time. General Banks's corps moved steadily 
forward, under a blazing sun and over dusty roads which 
led toward the mountain. Four or five miles south of 
Culpeper this mountain was seen rising directly in front 
of the advancing army, although it was still about five 
miles distant. The road led almost up to the left of the 
mountain, and then took a sudden curve and Avound around 
to its right. General Banks formed his trooj^s in line of 
battle in an open meadow lying between the mountain and 
the road. This was accomplished at half-past four p.m., 
when General Banks sent word to his superior officer that 
he hardly expected an engagement to take place that day. 
Ilis courier had, however, but just started when firing was 
jieard upon the left of his line, and in a few moments a 
perfect stream of flame belched forth from the mountain, 
extending from the extreme left to the right wing. The 



136 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

engagement commenced about five o'clock, and the firing 
did not finally terminate until past midnight. 

On Jackson's side a part of E well's division led in the 
attack, and was afterward reenforced by a portion of A. P. 
Hill's division, the whole numbering about fifteen thousand. 
Banks's corps, which comprised the entire of the Federal 
force brought into action, did not number more than eight 
thousand. Early in the battle, Ewell's troops were in danger 
of being flanked, and were compelled to fall back, disputing 
every inch of ground and losing a number of prisoners. 
They were, however, immediately reenforced, when a most 
desperate hand-to-hand encounter took place. Jackson's 
troops charged upon the Federals with great valor, and 
were bravely met. Bayonets locked and sabres crossed, and 
each man fought as if the fortunes of the field depended on 
himself alone. And when the bayonet failed to do its work, 
or was broken or lost, the contest was continued with club- 
bed guns, until the Federals were compelled to seek refuge 
in flight. Here the loss on both sides was terrible, and here 
fell some of the best and bravest officers of the Southern 
army. But their comrades pressed forward over their dead 
bodies, and finally gained a complete but a dear-bought vic- 
tory, in w^hich they not only released their companions who 
had been captured in the early part of the fight, but cap- 
tured a number of the Federals in return. 

The losses which many of the Federal regiments sus- 
tained in this engagement were extremely severe, some 
of them retiring from the field of battle with barely half 



I 



THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST GENERAL POP?. 137 

their numbers, whilst others, at the termination of the en- 
counter, had ahnost ceased to have an existence. The man- 
ner in which General Banks handled the small force at his 
command is worthy of the highest commendation. There 
can be little doubt but that had he been properly supported, 
and promptly reenforced by even a portion of the large 
number of troops who were within a short distance of 
the battle-field, the tide of victory would have been turned. 
There was evidently great culpability in some quarter, 
but it is difiicult to define on whose shoulders the blame 
must rest. The division of General Ricketts remained three 
hours within sound of the battle, but did not move an inch ; 
not, however, because that General did not desire to take 
part in the engagement, but because he was under the curb 
of a superior ofiicer, and that officer still awaiting the orders 
of his superior. General Ricketts, as well as other Generals 
within call, would gladly have been in the thickest of the 
fight, but having been officers in the regular army they were 
too much accustomed to its regular discipline to march to 
the relief of General Banks without orders. General Pope 
eventually led Ricketts's division to Banks's assistance, and 
also pushed Sigel's corps, which had begun to arrive, to the 
front, but when these movements took place the evening 
was so far advanced that they fiiiled to regain the ground 
which had been lost and to change the fortunes of the day 
During the engagement. General Banks had a narrow 
escape with his life, from a shell which exploded in the midst 
of his body-guard and killed six of them. Generals Pope 
and McDowell had also at a later period an equally narrow 



138 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

escape of being either killed or captured. Shortly after mid- 
night they had dismounted in the fi-ont to rest a few minutes 
from the saddle, when Jackson's cavalry made so sudden a 
dash upon them that they had barely time to mount and 
ride rapidly away. In so doing they were mistaken by a 
company of their own men for charging rebel cavalry, and 
received their fire, which fortunately only killed some of their 
horses. 

General Jackson's official report of the battle of Cedar 
Mountain is here given, as it illustrates the character of the 
man. It is remarkable for its brevity. He had invariably 
little to say in reference to his own achievements, and pre- 
ferred to be judged by his actions rather than by his words. 

Headquarters Vajlley District, 
August 12 — 6^ P.M. 

Colonel : On the evening of the ninth instant, God 
blessed our arms with another victory. The battle was near 
Cedar Run, about six miles from Culpeper Court-House. 
The enemy, according to the statement of prisoners, con- 
sisted of Banks's, McDowell's, and Sigel's commands. We 
have over four hundred prisoners, including Brig.-General 
Prince. While our list of killed is less than that of the ene- 
my, yet we have to mourn the loss of some of our best officers 
and men. Brig.-General Charles S. Winder was mortally 
wounded while ably discharging his duty at the head of his 
command, which was the advance of the left wing of the 
army. We have collected about one thousand five hundred 
small arms, and other ordnance-stores. 

I am, Colonel, your obedient servant, 

T. J. Jackson, Major-General. 

Col. E. H. Chilton, A.A.G. 



THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST GENERAL POPE. 139 

The Federal loss in the battle was about one thousand 
eight hundred in killed, wounded, and prisoners, besides 
which fully one thousand men straggled back to Culpeper 
Court-IIouse and beyond, and never entirely returned to 
their commands. The Confederates, according to their own 
reports, did not suffer a loss of much over seven hundred in 
killed and wounded. The advantageous position which the 
latter occupied during the battle naturally sheltered them 
from the Federal fire. 

At daybreak on the morning of the tenth, Jackson's sharp- 
shooters were found to occupy the same spot which had been 
their front at the close of the battle. Several skirmishes 
and slight engagements took place in the course of the morn- 
ing, but the battle was not renewed, and in the afternoon 
Jackson retired from the position which he held. Early on 
the following morning he retired to the south of the Kapidan, 
to which river he was followed by a cavalry and artillery 
force under General Buford. Though Jackson had only fif- 
teen thousand eugaged in the action, the entire force lie 
had then under his command, and the remainder of whom 
came up during the night, was from fifty to sixty thousand. 

The seat of v.- ar in Virginia was now to revert to the old 
field of operations in the vicinity of Washington. Not only 
was General McClellan's army transported, in the middle 
of August, from the James River to Alexandria and Acquia 
Creek on the banks of the Potomac, but General Burnside 
had earlier in the month. reached Falmouth on the Rappa- 



140 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

hannock with a considerable force, with which he had been 
successfully operating in ISTorth-Carolina. These changes 
naturally relieved the main Confederate army from the neces- 
sity of closely watching over and protecting the Confederate 
capital. Consequently, Lee and Longstreet, and other rebel 
leaders, moved northward to assist Jackson, and Ewell, and 
Hill, in their proceedings against General Pope. And Gen. 
Pope, on the other hand, had his army increased by consid- 
erable detachments from the commands of McClellan and 
Burnside. 

After the battle of Cedar Mountain, Jackson fell back to 
tlie south of the Rapidan, with the vicAV of moving west- 
w ard and outflanking Pope on his right ; whilst he resigned 
the front to Generals Lee and Longstreet, who were rapidly 
approaching from Richmond. Pope being reenforced by a 
portion of Burnside's forces under General Reno, again 
moved forward to the Rapidan, and took up a strong posi- 
tion on that river. He, however, became convinced by the 
eighteenth of August that he w^as about to be confronted 
by the main Confederate army, and feared that he might be 
attacked by overwhelming numbers before he could be re- 
enforced by any portion of the army of the Potomac. He 
therefore retired from the line of the Rapidan, and fell back 
to the Rappahannock, the entire army safely crossing: tlie 
latter river on the eighteenth and nineteenth. The troops 
of Jackson, follow^ed by those of Lee and Longstreet, ad- 
vanced in close proximity to tlie Federals, as the latter re- 
tired. On the twentieth, and two^foUowing days, the Rebels 



THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST GENERAL POPE. 141 

mnde efforts to cross tlie river at various points, but were 
unable to effect their purpose from the rapid and continuous 
artillery fire with which they were opposed. The Rebels 
now moved slowly uj) the river for the purpose of turning 
Pope's right, whilst the latter being required to keep himself 
in communication with Fredericksburgh, w^as unable to ex- 
tend his lines farther westward. During the night of the 
twenty-second, a dashing raid was made by a large force of 
Stuart's cavalry upon Catlett's Station, in the rear of the 
Federal army. They captured General Pope's private bag- 
gage, letters, official papers, and plans of his campaign, along 
with several prisoners, attacked a railroad train, and de- 
stroyed a number of army wagons filled with supplies. 

General Pope determined on the twenty-second that on 
the following day he would recross the river, near Rappa- 
hannock Station, and fall furiously with his whole force upon 
the flank and rear of Lee's army, then moving toward his 
right. A heavy storm occurring that night, carried away all 
the bridges, and destroyed all the fords, and thus rendered 
the proposed attack impracticable. 

The Confederate forces who at this time confronted 
General Pope on the Rappahannock, were those of Lee and 
Longstreet. To Jackson had been assigned another duty, 
and it was one for which he was especially fitted, from the 
rapidity with which he was ever able to move large masses 
of troops between distant points. The task which had been 
allotted to him was to move to the west of the Bull Run 
Mountains, and then crossing that range at Thoroughfare 



142 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Gap, march upon the rear of the Federal right, and fall 
upon their flank. Let us follow Jackson in this detour. 

On the evening of the twenty-second, he bivouacked oppo- 
site Sulphur Springs, and threw over the river two brigades 
of Ewell's division. These brigades met with opposition 
from the Federals, and were withdrawn on the following 
night, after some sharp fighting. 

On Monday morning, the twenty-fifth, Jackson was con- 
fronted at the same place by a heavy Federal force, and 
some firing took place, but without much loss having been 
sustained therefrom. That evening Jackson's whole force 
moved up to Jefi*erson, in Culpeper County, whence it 
marched through Amosville, in Rappahannock County, and 
then still farther up the river. The Federals appeared to 
have been unaware of this movement, as Longstreet re- 
mained for some time on the Rappahannock, in the neigh 
borhood of Sulphur Springs, and covered the commencement 
of Jackson's march. The latter crossed the river within ten 
miles of the Blue Ridge, and then marched across open 
fields, by strange country paths and comfortable homesteads, 
passed the little town of Orleans, and reached Salem, on the 
Manassas Gap Railroad, about midnight. By day-dawn of 
Tuesday, his troops were again on the march, and proceeded 
along the Manassas Gap road to Thoroughfare Gap, in the 
Bull Run Mountains ; thence to Gainesville, and on to Bris- 
tow Station, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, four 
miles south of Manassas Junction ; thus accomplishing the 
march from Amosville, of about forty-eight miles, iu tho 



( 



THE CAMPAiaN AGAINST GENERAL POPE. 143 

earae number of hours. At Bristow he captured a raih'oad 
train and several prisoners, and tore up the track. • 

On the twenty-seventh, Jackson moved up to Manassas 
Junction, where he found an immense amount of stores of 
every description, to which his troops freely helped them- 
selves. "It was a curious sight," writes one of his 
soldiers, " to see our ragged and famished men helping 
themselves to every imaginable article of luxury or neces- 
sity, whether of clothing, food, or what not. For my part, 
I got a tooth-brush, a box of candles, a quantity of lobster- 
salad, a barrel of coffee, and other things Avhich I forget. 
. . . Our men had been living on roasted corn since 
crossing the Rappahannock, and we had brought no v^ag- 
ons, so we could carry little away of the riches before us. 
But the men could eat, for one meal at least. So they were 
marched up, and as much of every thing eatable served out 
as they could carry. To see a starving man eating lobster- 
salad and drinking Rhine wine, bare-footed and in tatters, 
v/as curious ; the whole thing was incredible." 

Jackson's situation was certainly now a very critical one, 
for he had placed himself and his eighteen thousand jaded 
men, who here comprised the entire number of his corps, 
between Alexandria and Warrenton — between the forces of 
McClellan at the former place and those of Pope at the 
latter. 

When General Pope learned that Jackson was approach- 
ing his rear by Thoroughfare Gap, he felt satisfied, from the 
promise of reenforcements which he had received, that he 



144 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

would be in a position to give battle to and defeat him 
before lie could be joined by Longstreet, who was also 
making his way by the same route. General Pope assigned 
to his corps commanders certain positions which they should 
occupy to enable him to carry out his plan. The non-arri- 
val of the reenforcements at the time promised, seriously 
interfered with the Federal General's arrangements, and the 
non-compliance of certain of his corps commanders with his 
instructions, he states, frustrated his plans, and enabled 
Jackson to reach Manassas without encountering any se- 
rious obstacle, beyond an engagement which took place 
between Swell's division and that of General Hooker, at 
Kettle Run, upon the approach of the former toward Bris- 
tow Station. 

Jackson being now separated from the main body of the 
Rebel array. General Pope was naturally anxious to prevent 
any junction of Longstreet's forces with his, and for this 
purpose he despatched Generals McDowell, Kearny, and 
Reno, to Gainesville and Greenwich, east of Thorough- 
fare Gap. These officers reached those points on the night 
of the twenty-seventh, and completely cut off Jackson 
from the main body of the Rebel army, that was still 
west of the Bull Run range. To enable General Pope 
to more thoroughly cover Washington, he found it neces- 
sary to break off his communication with Fredericksburgh, 
so that he could mass his forces in greater numbers in the 
district where danger was most imminent. 

We have stated that General Jackson had placed himself 



THE CAMPAIGN AGAI^^ST GENERAL POPE. 145 

m a critical position, but if he had been aware of the weak- 
ness of the Federal line to the south of Manassas Junction, 
— a mistake which the commanding general has since sought 
to con(;eal by sacrificing General Porter — he might have in- 
flicted a severe blow on the Federals in that quarter. Gen- 
eral Pope, in his report, thus explains the position : ^' There 
were but two courses left open to Jackson, in consequence 
of this sudden and unexpected movement of the army. He 
could not retrace his steps through Gainesville, as it was 
occupied by McDowell, having at command a force equal, 
if not superior, to his own. He Avas either obliged, tliere- 
fore, to retreat through Centreville, which would carry him 
still farther from the main body of Lee's army, or to mass 
his force, assault us at Bristow Station, and turn our right. 
He pursued the former course, and retired through Centre- 
ville. This mistake of Jackson's alone saved us from the 
serious consequences which would havo followed this dis- 
obedience of orders on the part of General Porter." 

During the early part of the night of the twenty-seventh, 
General Pope being satisfied of Jackson's position, sent 
orders to McDowell, Kearny, and Keno, to advance from 
Gainesville and Greenwich to Manassas Junction and Bris- 
tow. Kearny reached Bristow at eight o'clock the follow- 
ing morning, and was immediately pushed forward in pur- 
suit of Jackson toward Manassas, followed by Hooker. 
Reno was at the time on the left, marching direct upon the 
Junction, but McDowell being delayed in his movement 
from Gainesville, enabled Jackson to retreat toward Cen- 
7 



146 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

treville, a performnnce which he hardly would have been 
able to accomplish, had McDowell arrived in time to inter- 
cept his crossing at Bull Run. 

At night-fall on the twenty-seventh, Jackson set fire to 
the depot, store-houses, loaded trains, and other Govern- 
ment property at Manassas Junction, and as the conflagra- 
tion had begun to subside, the Stonewall, or First division 
of his corps, moved off toward the battle-field of Manassas, 
and the other two divisions to Centreville, six miles distant. 
General Pope reached Manassas Junction, with Kearny's 
and Reno's troops, about mid-day of the twenty-eighth, less 
than an hour after Jackson in j)erson had retired. These 
forces, along with those of Hooker, were sent in pursuit, 
and orders were forwarded to McDowell to change his 
march to the direction of Centreville. Late in the day, 
Jackson's rear-guard was driven out of Centreville, and the 
place occupied by Kearny. One part of Jackson's force 
now moved by Sudley Springs, and the other pursued the 
turnpike road toward Gainesville. King's division of 
McDowell's corps encountered the advance of Jackson's 
force about six o'clock in the evening, as it was making for 
Thoroughfare Gap. A severe action took place, which ter- 
minated at dark, each party maintaining his ground. Jack- 
son had returned to within six miles of the Gap through 
which Longstreet must come, and whose arrival he anxious- 
ly longed for. General Pope now so arranged his forces 
that he felt satisfied there was no room left for Jack- 
son's escape. McDowell, Sigel, and Reynolds, with twenty- 



THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST GENERAL POPE. 147 

five thousand men, were to the west, situated between him 
and his reenforcements ; whilst twenty-five thousand more, 
under Kearny and other generals, approached him from 
the opposite side. With these forces, General Pope felt 
satisfied that he could crush Jackson before the latter 
could receive any aid from Longstreet. Unfortunately, 
however. General King, from some misapprehension, fell 
back to Manassas Junction, and left open the Ime of 
communication between the Rebel forces, which rendered 
new combinations of troops necessary on the part of the 
Federal commander. 

The Federal plan now consisted in massing the entire force 
upon Jackson, and compelling him to fight. General Sigel 
commenced the attack about daylight on the morning of 
the twenty-ninth, a mile or two east of Groveton, near Bull 
Run, Avhere he was soon joined by the divisions of Hooker 
and Kearny. Jackson fell back several miles, but was so 
closely pressed by these forces that he was compelled to 
make a stand and to offer the best defence possible. He 
accordingly took up a position with his left in the neighbor- 
hood of Sudley Springs, his right a little to the south of 
Warrenton turnpike, and his line covered by an old rail- 
road grade which leads from Gainesville in the direction of 
Leesburgh. His batteries, which were numerous, and some 
of them of heavy calibre, were posted behind the ridges in 
the open ground on both sides of "Warrenton turnpike, while 
the mass of his troops were sheltered in dense woods behind 
the railroad embankments. 



148 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

The battle continued without intermission until mid-day, 
when both armies were considerably cut up from the sharp 
action in which they had been engaged. From twelve until 
four o'clock, severe skirmishing occurred constantly at 
various points of the line. 

Ileintzelman and Reno recommenced the attack about 
half-past five, as at that time information was received that 
McDowell was advancing to join the main body of the 
Federal army by the Sudley Springs road, and orders 
had been sent to Porter to push forward at once into 
action on the enemy's right. By this attack, the Avhole of 
Jackson's left was doubled back toward his centre, and the 
National troops, after a sharp conflict for an hour and a 
half, occupied the field of battle, with Jackson's dead and 
wounded in their hands. McDowell now arriving on the 
field, was immediately pushed to the front, along the War- 
renton turnpike, Tvith orders to fall upon Jackson, who was 
retreating toward the turnpike from the direction of Sud- 
ley Springs. This attack was made by King's division, 
about sunset ; but by that time the advance of the main 
body of the Confederate army, under Longstreet, had begun 
to reach the field, and King encountered a stubborn and 
determined resistance at a point three quarters of a mile in 
front of the Federal line of battle. In the mean time, 
Pleintzelman and Reno continued to push back Jackson's 
left in the direction of the turnpike, so that about eight 
o'clock they occupied the greater portion of the field of bat- 
tle. General Pope remarks in his report that nothing was 



THE CAMPAIGN AGAIXST GENERAL POPE. 149 

heard of Porter up to tliis time, and that his force took no 
part whatever in tlie action. He also gives it as his opin- 
ion that had he received Porter's assistance before the ar- 
rival of Longstreet, the larger j^ortion of Jackson's force 
would have been utterly crushed or captured before suffi- 
cient reenforcemcuts could have been received by him 
wherewith to make an effective resistance possible. The 
losses this day were extremely heavy on both sides. 

During the night of the twenty-ninth, and up to ten 
o'clock on the morning of the thirtieth, there were nume- 
rous indications that the Confederates were retreating from 
the Federal front, and reconnoissances ascertained that they 
were retiring in the direction of Gainesville. The Na- 
tional trooj)s were so exhausted from long fasting and hard 
lighting that their commander considered it indispensable 
that they should be reenforced ; but the required reenforce- 
ments not being forthcoming, he determined that he would 
again give battle to tlie Rebels, and, if possible, so cripple 
them that they could make no farther advance toward the 
National capital. The force which General Po|)e had 
available for action upon this day was about forty thousand 
men, w^liich number included seven thousand of Porter's 
corps. The remainder (five thousand) of the latter, had 
been despatched at daylight to Centreville, and were thus 
rendered unavailable for operations on that day. Banks's 
corps was at Bristow Station, guarding the railroad and 
wagon trains of the army. 

The point at which our narrative now arrives is the com- 



150 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

mencement of the second battle of Bull Kun, whicli took 
place close to the far-famed battle-field of that name. The 
Confederates were posted with Longstreet on the right, and 
Jackson on the left, and formed an obtuse angle. It was 
presumed by this arrangement that if the Federals forced 
either of the Confederate Generals back, their flank would 
be exposed to the direct attack of the other. The Federal 
left rested upon that portion of the Bull-Run battle-field, 
which on the previous year was occupied by the main body 
of the Rebel army. The line extended in the direction of 
Manassas Junction. Though there were skirmishing and 
some slight cannonading during the morning, the battle 
did not begin until about one o'clock. 

The Federals made the attack. General Pope found it 
necessary to act promptly, as Jackson was continuing to be 
rapidly reenforced by the main Rebel army, portions of 
which had been arriving during the whole of the previous 
night and throughout that morning. Pope was already con- 
fronted by greatly superior forces, and these forces were 
every moment being largely increased by fresh arrivals. 

Porter's corps and King's division w^ere moved forward 
to the attack upon the turnpike, and Heintzelman and Reno 
were pushed to the right to attack Jackson's left in flank. 
The Confederates massed tlieir trooj^s as fast as they arrived 
on the field on their right, and quickly moved forward from 
that direction to turn the Federal left. Ricketts's division 
was immediately posted so that it could resist this move- 
ment. Porter's troops soon retired in consideiable confu- 



THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST GENERAL POPE. 15 i 

sion, but later in tlie day regained their lost laurels. This 
retrograde movement led the Rebels to advance to the 
assault, and the whole Federal line was soon furiously en- 
gaged. The main attack was on the left, but it was stub- 
bornly resisted by Schenck, Milroy, Reynolds, and Rick- 
etts. The battle raged furiously for several hours, tiie 
Confederates bringing up their heavy reserves, pouring 
mass after mass of troops upon the Federal left, and while 
overpowering it, assaulting the right with superior forces. 
Porter's troops were again sent into action on the left, 
where they rendered distinguished service, especially the 
brigade of regulars under Colonel Buchanan ; but notwith- 
standing the utmost firmness and obstinacy of the National 
forces, the odds were too great for successful resistance, 
and they were ultimately compelled to retire. 

At sunset the wings of the Confederate army swept 
round in pursuit — Jackson swinging his left on the right as 
a pivot, and Longstreet swinging his right on his left. 
But the Federals were enabled to retire in perfect order. 
Night closed the contest, and put a stop to tbe slaughter, 
which, as in the battle of the previous day, had been great 
in the extreme. 

General Pope felt that he was no longer able to maintain 
his position so far to the front against such overwhelming 
numbers, and with such weakened and fiitigued forces as 
those he commanded. He therefore determined to retire to 
Centreville, and the movement was made without any diffi- 
culty and without any pursuit being attempted by the 



152 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Rebels. General Banks was also ordered to retire from 
Bristow to Centreville, and to destroy such trains and 
stores as he could not carry with him. 

The thirty-first of August was comparatively a quiet day. 
On the following morning, the Confederates moved heavy 
columns toward the Federal right, in the direction of Fair- 
fax Court-House. In consequence of the great exhaustion 
of his men. General Pope desired to delay an engagement 
tmtil the following day, but the Rebel movement became 
so developed by the afternoon of September the first, that 
it was evident it was made with a view of turning the 
Federal right, and cutting off the line of communications 
with Washington. This had to be resisted at all hazards. 
The necessary dispositions of troops were made to stop 
the Rebel progress, and a very severe action occurred at 
Chantilly, a place north of Centreville, and north-west of 
Fau-fax Court-House, and about six miles distant from each. 
The engagement took place in the midst of a terrific thun- 
der-storm. It was not terminated until after dark, when 
the Confederates were entirely driven back from the Fede- 
ral front. This battle was especially unfortunate to the 
North, as it deprived it of the life of General Kearny, 
whose services on many fields had rendered his name dis- 
tinguished. 

The engagement at Chantilly closed the Confederate 
campaign against General Pope. It will be observed that 
throughou t it General Jackson was given the most promi- 



THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST GENERAL POPE. 153 

nent place. The campaign was commeDced by him alone ; 
and after he was joined by Lee and Longstreet, we find 
him invariably pushed forward as the pioneer during the 
remainder of its progress. The battle of Cedar Mountain 
was fought by him alone. In the battle of Groveton he 
had, unaided, to contend against a much superior force, and 
if it had not been for the fortimate arrival of Longstreet 
v/ith fresh troops, there can be little doubt but that he 
would there have suffered a severe defeat. Li the closing 
actions of the campaign he was joined by the main body of 
the Confederate army, and though the honor of the victory 
could not in them be entirely awarded to him, it is evident 
that no inconsiderable share thereof can be claimed on his 
behalf. 

1 



CHAPTER X. 

THE INVASION OF MARYLAND. 

The Federals retire within the Lines of Washington — Resignation of Pope 
— Appointment of McClellan — Jackson leads the Way into Maryland — 
Enters Frederick — Incidents during its Occupation — Lee's Proclamation 
— Jackson marches upon Harper's Ferry — Maryland Heights abandoned 
— Harper's Ferry bombarded — Its Surrender — Jackson's Report of the 
Capture — Federal Inquiry into the Cause of Surrender — Battle of South- 
Mountain — Battle of Antietam — The Battle-ground and Positions of the 
Combatants — Terrific Contest between Jackson and Hooker — Change in 
the Scene of Conflict — The Losses — Jackson demolishes Thirty Miles of 
Railroad — Afiair at Blackford's Ford. 

After the battle of Chantilly, great changes again took 
place in the movements of the contending armies, and the 
Federal forces on the Potomac were again destined to be 
placed under the command of General McClellan. 

On the second of September, the remnant of General 
Pope's army retired from Centreville, and moved within the 
lines of Washington, but not without suffering early on the 
morning of that day the loss of one hundred wagons filled 
with commissary stores, Avhich were captured by the Rebels 
between Centreville and Fairfax Court-House, at that time 
the rear of the Federal army. On the same day General 
Pope desired to be relieved from his couunand. Ilis resig- 



THE INVASION OF MARYLAND. 155 

iijition was accepted by the President, and General McClel- 
lan was at once appointed to the " command of the fortifi- 
cations at Washington, and of all the troops for the defence 
of tlie capital." 

The events of the j^ast week rendered it advisable to con- 
centrate the National forces as much as possible. Conse- 
qnently, on the day after the second battle of Bull Run, Gen- 
eral Burnside removed his stores from Fredericksburgh, 
evacuated the place, destroyed the bridges crossing the 
river, and retired with his forces to Acquia Creek, where he 
phiced himself under tlie protection of the gunboats. Tv>^o 
days later, the Federal forces under General Julius White 
evacuated Winchester, and retired to Harper's Ferry. 

Every preparation was made to resist a direct attack should 
it be made upon Washington by the Confederates, which it 
was naturally feared would result from the defeat of the Fed- 
eral forces in front. The various garrisons were strengthened 
and put in order, and the troops were so disposed that they 
covered all the approaches to the city, and could be readily 
thrown upon threatened points. But it was no part of the 
plan of the Confederate General to hurl his forces against for- 
tifications. He rather preferred to initiate a new era in the 
history of the war. The Confederate theory had thus far 
been that in battling against the ISTorthern soldiers, who 
Ijad marched in measured tread over Southern soil, they 
were acting strictly on the defensive, and merely desired to 
expel the " invader" from their land. This assumed defen- 
sive action was now to be changed into one of oflfence, and 



156 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

for the first time during the Rebellion a Confederate army 
was to plant its standard over Northern soil. 

It Avas anticipated that if a strong Confederate force was 
present in Maryland, there would be found in that State 
" an uprising of the people" in favor of the South, which 
would result in the secession of that State, and the sever- 
ance of Washington from the loyal North. 

The Confederates, having driven the Federal army under 
cover of the guns which bristled on the hill-tops around 
"Washington, had no desire to spend their time in inactivity, 
and the smoke which curled upward from the last hostile 
gun was scarcely more rapidly cleared away from the sky 
than were the numerous troops under the command of Lee 
and his brother generals removed from the vicinage of the 
National Capital. Jackson was again the pioneer and moved 
forward on the march to Maryland on September the third. 
lie passed that night at Drainesville, and on the following 
day reached Leesburgh, where he was joined by the corps 
commanded by General D. H. Hill, and other troops. On 
the fifth the Potomac was crossed by both Jackson's and 
D. H. Hill's commands in the vicinity of the Point of Rocks, 
and that day's march continued until past midniglit, when 
the troops bivouacked in the neighborhood of Buckeyestown. 
At Monocacy Junction, near that place, the telegraph opera- 
tor, who had failed to receive any notice of the rebel ap- 
proach, was discovered by General Hill busily occupied in 
despatchmg messages on the business of the railroad. The 
General informed him that he was a prisoner, and desired 



THE INVASION OF MARYLAND. 157 

him to telegraj>h in his own name for a large train of cars 
to be sent immediately from Baltimore. On the operator 
stating that the wires had just been cut, he was desired, as 
a test, to despatch information that the Rebels had arrived, 
and had taken him prisoner. He repeated his statement, 
w^hen one of Hill's men tried the instrument, and found it, 
as reported to be, not in working order. 

The Rebel troops, after about two or three hours' rest, re- 
newed their march before daybreak, and about ten o'clock 
Jackson's advance force entered Frederick, the capital of 
Maryland, their music, such as it was, playing " My Mary- 
land" and " Dixie." This advance force consisted of about 
five thousand- men, and their appearance was of so motley 
a nature that it was hardly likely to impress the people of 
Frederick in their favor. Their clothes, instead of being 
uniform were multiform, and as might naturally be expected 
from the rough usage their habiliments had been subject to, 
they were neither spotless nor perfect. 

The reception was lacking that hearty welcome which 
they had calculated upon receiving. Though in some few 
instances outrages were committed against property, it must 
be admitted that every precaution was taken to prevent 
them. Guards were placed at the stores, and only a few 
men allowed to enter at a time. They usually paid for 
wliat they took away with such money as they possessed ; 
but to use the expression of one of the citizens, the " notes 
depreciated the paper on which they were printed." It is 
true that in some of the most crowded stores, especially 



158 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

shoe-stores, articles would be smuggled away without pay- 
ment, but these were exceptional cases. An attack was 
made by some of the soldiers on the Examiner printing- 
office, and the contents of the office thrown into the street. 
The Provost-Marshal, however, not only suppressed the riot 
and put the rioters in the guard-house, but he compelled 
them to return every thing belonging to the office. 

On Sunday, the seventh, all the churches were opened as 
usual, and General Jackson attended the Presbyterian and 
German Reformed churches. At the latter place the min- 
ister. Dr. Zacharias, prayed for the President of the United 
States in a firm voice. 

Confederate troops continued to arrive in Frederick, and 
enrollment offices were opened for the purpose of obtaining 
recruits for the Southern army. On Monday, General Lee 
issued a proclamation to the people of Maryland, in which 
he announced to them that he had entered that State for 
the purpose of restoring her to freedom, and of rescuing her 
citizens from the thraldom under which they had been 
placed by Northern bayonets, and giving them an opportu- 
nity freely to decide for themselves Avhether they would 
join the Southern Confederacy or not. 

On Wednesday, the tenth, the Rebel army commenced to 
move away from Frederick, Jackson, as usual, leading the 
van. The olvject which was now to be attained was the 
capture of Harper's Ferry, with all the Federal forces and 
munitions of war thci^'e situated. It was most important to 
the Confederates that they should obtain possession of this 



THE INVASION OF MARYLAND. 159 

stronghold. It was the key to the valley of tlie Shenandoah, 
and its occupancy would not only enable them to obtain 
their supplies by that direction, but it would open to them 
a road for retreat in the event of a retroojrade movement 
becoming necessary. 

It was considered advisable that the place should be 
approached and attacked from various points. General 
Walker's division proceeded by the Point of Rocks (de- 
stroying on its way the canal aqueduct at the mouth of the 
Monocacy) to Loudon Heights, separated from Harper's 
Ferry by the Shenandoah River. At the same time, the 
divisions of General McLaws and R. H. Anderson moved 
for Maryland Heights, which overlooked the place from the 
northern side of the Potomac. Whilst these Generals were 
marching to their respective positions, General Jackson 
made a detour for the purj)Ose of attacking the stronghold 
from the south-west. He re-crossed the Potomac at Wil- 
liamsport, and then marched upon Martinsburgh, twenty 
miles above Harper's Ferry. Upon his approacli, three or 
four thousand Federal soldiers who were stationed at the 
last-named place, fell back and united with the forces at 
Harper's Ferry. Jackson pursued them, and on the morn- 
ing of Saturday, the thirteenth, reached Halltown, four 
miles south-west" of the Ferry. From this point he com- 
municated with General Walker, who was already in pos- 
session of Loudon Heights, and with Generals McLaws and 
Anderson, to whom the heights on the Maryland side had 
been most unaccountably surrendered by the Federal officer 



160 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

in command, and directed them to open fire on the follow- 
ing (Sunday) morning, by which time he would have his 
guns in position. Maryland Heights had been attacked on 
that morning, and the position had been stoutly defended, 
but, about four o'clock in the afternoon, the Federal regi- 
ments retreated down the mountain in good order^ having 
first spiked their guns, and then crossed the river to Har- 
joer's Ferry. No sooner had they retired than the Confed- 
erates occupied the heights above the guns, and deliberately 
commenced a musketry-fire upon the village below. How- 
ever, a shell from one of the Federal batteries posted near 
the bridge soon dislodged them from this position. Colonel 
Ford, who commanded the Heights, was afterwards dis- 
missed the Federal service for military incapacity and 
abandoning this position without sufiicient cause. 

Every thing was quiet within Harper's Ferry on Sunday 
morning. There was no enemy in sight, with the exception 
of Jackson's forces, who were in front. Every person ex- 
pected to be awakened with the booming of artillery from 
the evacuated Heights, and the silence which reigned was 
not ominous of good. About noon, two companies of the 
Garibaldi Guard bravely ascended the Maryland Heights 
and secured some of their camp equipage, and brought 
down four of the pieces of artillery which had been left 
spiked the previous day. Hour after hour passed by, and 
no signs of the Rebels appearing on the heights, it began to 
be imagined that they had been foiled in their plans, and 
that the only force to contend with would be that in front. 



THE INVASION OF MARYLAND. 161 

Preparations, however, had been made to resist any assault, 
although it was evident that resistance would be useless, 
unless reenforcements could be received. 

About two o'clock in the afternoon, the silence Avas 
broken by a furious fire which burst forth simultaneously 
on every side. Shot and shell flew in every direction, and 
the soldiers and citizens were compelled to seek refuge be- 
hind rocks and houses, and in every nook and corner Avhich 
offered a friendly shelter against the unwelcome visitors. 
The Federal artillery replied with much spirit. Heavy can- 
nonading was brought to bear upon them from five differ- 
ent points, yet they held their own manfully. However, 
before night closed the struggle, they had been compelled 
to contract their lines, and Jackson's forces occupied some 
intrenchments which the Federals had been comj^elled to 
desert on the hills of Bolivar. That night General Jackson 
sent a message to General Walker that his forces were in 
possession of the first line of the Federal intrenchments, and 
that, with God's blessing, he would have Harj)er's Ferry 
and the National forces early the next morning. 

The fight was renewed the following (Monday) morning 
at five o'clock. The attack was obstinately resisted until 
about eight o'clock, when the ammunition of the Federals 
gave out, and it was deemed impossible for them to hold 
out any longer. A council of war was immediately held, 
when it was decided, but not unanimously, that the place 
should be surrendered. White flags were run up in every 
direction, and a flag of truce was sent to inquire on what 



162 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

conditions a surrender would be accepted. General Jackson 
demanded an unconditional surrender ; but he eventually 
agreed that the officers should be allowed to go out with 
their side arms and private effects and the rank and file 
with every thing except arms and equipments. 

A murmur of disapprobation ran along the entire Federal 
line, when it became known that the place had been surren- 
dered. Officers exhibited strong demonstrations of grief, 
while the soldiers were equally demonstrative in their man- 
ifestations of rage. 

As soon as the terms of surrender were completed. Gene- 
rals Jackson and A. P. Hill rode into the town, accompanied 
by their respective staffs. General Hill immediately select- 
ed his headquarters, whilst General Jackson rode down to 
the river, and then returned to Bolivar Heights, the ob- 
served of all observers. He was dressed in the coarsest 
description of homespun, which bore every mark of having 
seen much service. An old hat which covered his head 
harmonized with the rest of his attire — in fact, in his gen- 
eral appearance he was hardly to be distinguished from 
the rough-looking but hardy fellows who called him their 
commander. 

As soon as Jackson returned from the village the entire 
Federal force was mustered on Bolivar Heights, prepara- 
tory to stacking arms and completing the surrender. All 
the cavalry, about two thousand, under the command of 
Colonel Davis, had cut their way out on Sunday night, and 
had proceeded along the road to Sharpsburgh, capturing an 



THE INVASION OF MAE YL AND. 163 

ammunition train, belonging to General Longstreet, and 
several llebel prisoners by the way. The number of men, 
guns, stores, wagons, etc., captured are given in General 
Jackson's Report, which we here append : 

Headquakters Yalley Disteict, ) 
September 16, 1862. j 

Colonel : Yesterday God crowned our arms with an- 
other brilliant success on tlie surrender at Harper's Ferry 
of Brigadier-General White and eleven thousand troops, an 
equal number of small arms, seventy-three pieces of artillery, 
and about two hundred Avagons. In addition to other 
stores, there is a large amount of camp and garrison equip- 
age. Our loss was very small. The meritorious conduct of 
botli officers and men Avill be mentioned in a more extended 
report. 

I am, Colonel, your obedient servant, 

T. J. Jackson, Major-General. 
Colonel R. II. Chilton, Assistant Adjutant-General. 

The officer in command of Harper's Ferry, at the time of 
its surrender, was Colonel D. S. Miles, and the surrender 
was the subject of a court of inquiry. General Julius 
White, who was present at the time, had merely taken 
refuge there on the retirement of his forces from Winches- 
ter and Martinsburgh. Througliout the attack he acted 
with decided capability and courage, and on Sunday led his 
troops against Jackson on Bolivar Heights. During the 
siege he assumed a subordinate position, and at the close of 
the engagement he was sent by Colonel Miles to arrange 
terms for a surrender. The Confederates did not ceaso 



I'^i STONEWALL JACKSON. 

firing for more than half an hour after the white flag had 
been raised, during which time Colonel Miles was mortally 
wounded. 

The court of inquiry, in pronouncing judgment upon 
Colonel Miles in reference to this surrender, says : "An 
officer who cannot appear before any earthly tribunal to 
answer or explain charges gravely affecting his character, 
who has met his death at the bands of the enemy, even 
upon the spot he disgracefully surrenders, is entitled to the 
tenderest care and most careful investigation. This the 
commission has accorded Colonel Miles, and, in giving a 
decision, only repeats what runs through over nine hundred 
pages of testimony, entirely unanimous upon the fact that 
Colonel Miles's incapacity, amounting almost to imbecility, 
led to the shameful surrender of this important post." Re- 
enforcements were but a few miles distant at the time of 
the surrender, but the Court was of opinion that sufficient 
alacrity had not been displayed in forwarding them to the 
relief of the beleaguered place. It remarked inter alia: 
" Had the garrison been slower to surrender, or the army 
of the Potomac swifter to march, the enemy would have 
been forced to raise the siege, or would have been taken in 
detail, with the Potomac dividing his force." 

During the occurrence of the events which we have thus 
far narrated in this chapter, there was great activity in the 
Federal camp. The disappearance of Lee's army from the 
front at Washington, and its passage into Maryland, eu- 



THE INVxVSION OF MARYLAND. 165 

larged the sphere of McClellan's operations, and made an 
active campaign necessary to cover Baltimore, prevent the 
invasion of Pennsylvania, and drive the Rebels out of 
Maryland. 

The advance of the Federal army under General Burnside 
entered Frederick on September the twelfth. While at 
Frederick, on the following day. General McClellan con- 
sidered it was necessary to force the passage of the South- 
Mountain range, and by that route afford relief to Harper's 
Ferry, the siege of which he had been already made ac- 
quainted w^ith. The two armies came into collision, at 
Crampton's and Turner's Passes, on the South-Mountain 
range, on Sunday, the day upon which the bombardment 
of Harper's Ferry was commenced. The action resulted 
in the two Passes being carried, and in important military 
positions being gained by the Federal army. 

On the day after this engagement General Lee's army 
fell back toward Antietam Creek, situated from six to eight 
miles west of the South-Mountain range, and running for 
some distance almost parallel thereto. This creek, from 
which the battle we are now about to chronicle derives its 
name, rises in Central Pennsylvania, and after running in a 
southerly direction, mingles its waters with those of the Po- 
tomac, about five miles above Harper's Ferry. This battle 
is called by the Confederates Sharpsburgh, such being the 
name of the town in the vicinity of which it was fought. 
In this new position Lee was enabled to resist any attack 
upon him, and to cover the Shepherdstown Ford on th© 



166 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Potomac, by wliicli he would be enabled to form a jimction 
with Jackson at Harper's Ferry. 

On the fifteenth McClellan pushed his army forward to 
Antietam Creek, in the hopes of coming up with Lee during 
the day in sufficient force to beat him again and drive him 
into the river. But the day was too far advanced before 
he had an opportunity of making an attack. On the follow- 
ing morning he found that the Confederates had slightly 
changed their line, and w^ere posted on the heights near 
Antietam Creek. 

Before the prisoners taken by Jackson at Harper's Ferry 
could be paroled, that General found it necessary to leave 
suddenly with twenty thousand troops for the reenforce- 
ment of Lee, leaving A. P. Hill with his division in com- 
mand of the captured city. General Ewell having been 
severely wounded at the battle of Groveton, and amputa- 
tion of the leg rendered necessary, his division was com- 
manded by General Lawton. The Stonewall division was 
commanded by General Stark, its previous chief, General 
Taliaferro, having also been severely wounded in the same 
battle. 

Let us describe the field upon which the approaching 
battle was to be fought, and the positions of the combatants 
at the commencement of the struggle. 

The Confederate line was drawn up uj^on the right or 
western bank of Antietam Creek, upon a small peninsula 
formed by the waters of that creek and the Potomac, which 
river is the western and southern boundary. Their left and 



THE INVASION OF MAEYLAND. 167 

centre were upon and in front of the road from Sharpsburgh 
to Hagerstown, and were protected "by woods and irregulari- 
ties of the ground. Their extreme left rested upon a wood- 
ed eminence near the cross-roads to the north of Miller's 
farm, the distance at this point between the road and the 
Potomac, which makes here a great bend to the east, being 
about three fourths of a mile. Their right rested on the 
hills to the right of Sharpsburgh, near Snavely's farm, cover- 
ing the crossing of the Antietam and the approaches to the 
town from the south-east. The ground from their immedi- 
ate front to the Antietam is undulating. Hills intervene, 
whose crests in general are commanded by the crests of 
others in their rear. The position was favorably located 
for both offensive and defensive operations, and occupied a 
range of hills forming a semi-circle, with the concave to- 
ward the National army. The arrangement of the line was 
as follows : General Jackson on the extreme left. General 
Longstreet in the centre, and General D. H. Hill on the 
extreme right. 

The Federals occupied a position on the opposite or east- 
ern bank of Antietam Creek, in close proximity to the road 
leading from Boonsboro to Sharpsburgh, having the creek 
in front, and the Elk Mountain range in their rear. The 
position was much less commanding than that held by the 
Confederates; the extreme right, however, rested upon 
a heiorht commandino^ the extreme Confederate left. The 
forces on the extreme right were commanded by General 
Hooker, (supported by General Mansfield,) and those on the 



168 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

extreme left by General Bumside. The centre was occupied 
by the corps of Generals Sumner, Franklin, and Fitz-John 
Porter whose forces were held in reserve, so that, if neces- 
sary, they could render assistance to either the right or left 
wing, on whichever the force of battle might fall. Unsup- 
ported, attack in front was impossible. McClellan's forces 
lay behind low, disconnected ridges, in front of the Rebel 
summits, all or nearly all being miwooded. They gave, 
however, some cover for artillery, and guns were therefore 
massed on the centre. The lines stretched four miles from 
right to left. 

It will thus be seen that Jackson and Hooker were placed 
in antagonistis positions to each other at one end of the 
lines, and Burnside and D. PL Hill confronted each other at 
the other end. In the centre, Longstreet faced Sumner, 
Franklin, and Porter. 

The numbers of the men actually brought into action Avitb 
each other were about one hundred thousand in each army, 
and one hundred guns on each side belched forth their deadly 
missiles. 

The battle commenced on the afternoon of the sixteenth 
by Hooker's corps, consisting of Ricketts's and Doubleday's 
divisions, and the Pennsylvania reserves, under General 
Meade. They Avere sent across the creek by a ford and 
bridge to the right of Kedysville, with orders to attack, and 
if possible to turn the Rebel left. General Mansfield's corps 
was sent in the evening to support Hooker. Placed in posi- 
tion, Meade's division, the Pennsylvania reserves, which 



THE INVASION OF MARYLAND. 169 

was at the head of Hooker's corps, became engaged in a 
sharp contest with the enemy, which lasted until after dark, 
at which time it had succeeded in driving in a portion of 
the opposing line, and held the ground. 

The sun of September the seventeenth rose uj^on a bright, 
but a blood-stained day. With its earliest light, the contest 
was opened between Hooker and Jackson. Between six 
and seven o'clock the Federals advanced a large body of 
skirmishers, and shortly after the main body of Hooker's 
corps was hurled against the division of General Lawton. 
When we consider that Jackson and Hooker were the two 
Generals who in this portion of the battle-field were pitted 
against each other, it is almost useless to say that the con- 
test was severe, and that the fortunes of the day were vary- 
ing. Now an advance, and then a repulse. Then again 
another advance, to be followed by another repulse. Words 
like these, with the addition of phrases referring to the re- 
ceipt of reenforcements, are almost sufficient with which to 
write the history of this encounter. If one was for a time 
driven back, it was but for a time. With increased energy, 
he not only gained his lost ground, but drove back his foe 
in return. 

Hooker's attack was successful for a time, but masses of 
Rebels having been thrown upon him, his progress wfis 
checked. So severe was the clash of arms at one time, that 
upon his troops closing up their shattered lines, there was a 
regiment where a brigade had been, and hardly a brigade 
where a whole division had been victorious. When Mans- 
8 



170 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

field brought up Ids corps to Hooker's support, the two 
corps drove the Confederates back — the gallant and distin- 
guished veteran Mansfield losing his life in the effort. About 
the same time, General Hooker was wounded and had to 
leave the field. The command devolved on Sumner, whose 
corps had come up to the Federal relief. The firing was now 
fearful and incessant. At one period when the Federals had 
obtained a position which enabled them to pour a flanking 
fire upon their foes. General Stark, who commanded the 
Stonewall division, galloped to the front of his brigade, 
and seizing the standard, rallied his men. This gallant act 
cost him his life, for, as he threw himself in the van, four 
bullets pierced his body, and he fell dead upon the field. 
The effect, instead of discouraging the soldiers, fired them 
with determination and revenge, and caused them to dash 
forward, drive back the Federals, and regain a position 
which they kept during the rest of the day. 

Two divisions of Franklin's corps were, during the after- 
noon, added to the strength of the Federal right, where the 
condition of things was not particularly promising, notwith- 
standing the success which had been wrested from the Rebels 
by the stubborn bravery of the troops. Sumner's, Hooker's, 
and Mansfield's corps had lost heavily, and several general 
officers had been carried from the field. Some of the best 
of the Federal troops had been concentrated upon the single 
effort to turn Jackson's forces on the Rebel left, with 
whom, as we have stated, the tide of battle ebbed and 
flowed alternately. His men fcught desperately — ^perhaps 



THE INVASION OF MARYLAND. 171 

as tliey never fought before. Whole brigades were swept 
away before the fiery storm, and the ground was covered 
Avith the wounded and the dead. At one time, Ewell's old 
division, overpowered by superior numbers, fell back. Be- 
ing supported by other troops, who rushed into the gap and 
retrieved the loss, Ewell's men returned to the fight, added 
their weight to that of their enthusiastic comrades, and in 
turn drove back the Federals. About the time when General 
Stark was killed, Lee ordered to the support of Jackson, 
McLaws's division, which had been held in reserve. It came 
most opportunely. Jackson's men had fought until not they 
alone, but their ammunition also, was well nigh exhausted, 
and discomfiture stared them in the face. Encouraged by 
the assistance of fresh troops, every man rallied and fought 
with redoubled vigor. They swej)t on like a wave — its bil- 
lows rolling thick and fast upon the columns that had so 
stubbornly forced their way to the position on which the 
Rebels had originally commenced the battle — and regained 
the greater part of the ground which they had originally 
lost. 

The fighting in this part of the field had been for many 
hours so excessive that the combatants were too exhausted 
to continue the strife. The contest here closed with scarcely 
any advantage being derived by either side. Some corn- 
fields and woods, the occupation of which had been hotly 
contested during the day, were at its close held by the 
Federals, who took possession of the ghastly harvest which 
had been reaped, and which was strewn upon the ground. 



172 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

The brunt of battle was now transferred to the opposite 
wings, commanded respectively by Bm-nside and D. H. 
Hill. As Jackson took no part therein, we will only briefly 
describe this section of the battle. To Bm-nside had been 
intrusted the difficult task of carrying the bridge near 
Rohrback's farm and assaulting the Rebel right. He re« 
ceived his instructions at ten o'clock in the morning, but up 
to three o'clock he had made little progress, beyond having 
successfully carried the bridge. At the last-named hour he 
advanced, and drove the Rebels before him nearly as far as 
Sharpsburgh. At this point the latter were reenforced by 
A. P. Hill, who opportunely arrived with the force that 
Jackson had left behind at Harper's Ferry, and Burn side 
was compelled to fall back. The fighting in this part of the 
field was almost entirely between artillery. 

As the day was draAving to a close, McClellan was hasten- 
ing from the centre to the left. He was met by a courier 
from Burn^ide, with the message : "I want troops and guns. 
If you do not send them I cannot hold my position for half 
an hour." Porter's corps was the only one in reserve left 
to the army, and it would have been dangerous to have 
sent it to Burnside's relief. McClellan glanced at the 
western sky, and then said slowly ; " Tell General Burnside 
this is the battle of the war. He must hold his ground till 
dark at any cost. I will send him Miller's battery. I can 
do nothing more. I have no infantry." When the mes- 
senger was riding away, he called him back. " Tell him if 



THE INVASION OF MARYLAND. 173 

he cannot hold his ground, then the bridge to the last man ! 
always the bridge ! If the bridge is lost, all is lost." 

As the light faded the cannonade died away, and before 
it was quite dark the battle was over. After fourteen hours 
of hard fighting, all that the Federals had been enabled to 
accomplish was to turn the Rebel line on one flank, and 
secure a footing within it on the other. Both armies slept 
on their arms. Both commanders expected that the battle 
would be renewed on the following day, but neither was 
willing to commence the attack. So exhausted were their 
troops, that both felt glad to be able to escape a continu- 
ance of the contest. Upon the eighteenth General Mc- 
Clellan gave orders for a renewal of the attack at daylight 
on the following morning, but during that night the Con- 
federate army was moved to the Virginia shore of the Po- 
tomac, and morning found a wide river separating the con- 
tending forces. 

The Federal loss in the battle of South-Mountain was 
four hundred and forty-three killed, and one thousand eight 
hundred and six "wounded ; and in the battle of Antietam 
two thousand and ten killed, nine thousand four hundred 
and sixteen wounded, and one thousand and forty-three 
missing ; making a total loss, in the two battles, of fourteen 
thousand seven hundred and ninety-four. "We have no data 
from which to state the actual Confederate loss, but from 
the number of their dead who were left upon the field and 
were buried by the Federals, it was without doubt consid- 
erably greater than that of the National army. 



174 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Thirteen guns and tliirty-nine colors, more than fifteen 
thousand stand of small arms, and upward of six thousand 
prisoners, were the trophies obtained by the Federals. 

The battle of Antietam was an unfinished one, conse- 
quently it was not a decisive one. It can hardly be claimed 
as a great victory if we are to judge of it by the results. It 
is true, however, that the Federals gained a little in the 
matter of space, and held at the close some important i^osi- 
tions, which the Rebels had occupied at the beginning of 
the day. The losses which took place were of more serious 
import to the Rebels than they were to the Federals, as 
any reenforcements which the former could receive were 
too far away to be immediately available, whilst those of 
the latter were within reach. This doubtless led Lee to 
avoid risking another engagement, and to adopt the only 
course left open to him to ward it eff — remove his army be- 
yond the borders of Maryland. 

To throAV every obstacle in the way of the Federal army 
was naturally the desire of the Confederates. In this Jack- 
son w^as remarkably prominent. Almost within gun-shot 
of McClellan's army, with a force not exceeding seven thou- 
sand, he destroyed thirty miles of the Baltimore and Ohio 
Railroad track, from seven miles west of Harper's Ferry to 
the North Mountain. He actually obliterated the road, so 
that when the road-masters with their gangs went to work 
to restore it, it was only by the charred and twisted debris 
that the track could be traced. Every tie was burned, 
every rail bent — nothing remained to be done Tout to cart 



THE INVASION OF MARYLAND. 175 

off the bare ballast. The General took off his coat, and, 
with a cross-tie for a fulcrum and a rail for a lever, helped 
to demolish the " permanent way," and with his own hands 
he assisted in bending the heated rails around the trunks 
of trees. When all this rail-stripping and burning and 
twisting was done, Jackson walked over the whole thirty 
miles of his work to see that it was done thoroughly. He 
looked upon that road with the eye of a military genius, 
well aware of its great importance as a military thorough- 
fare. The prominent part it must play in the warlike ma- 
chinery of the Government was plain to him ; therefore he 
took the greater pains to destroy it totally. 

A week after the battle of Antietam, General McClellan 
caused a reconnoissance to be made on the Virginia side of 
the Potomac, in the neighborhood of Shepherdstown, so 
that information might be obtained of the Rebel position 
and force in that vicinity. The troops, consisting of a 
brigade, with a portion of three regiments, and a battery, 
had their crossing at Blackford's Ford disputed by a few 
field-pieces. These were soon silenced, and the gunners 
took to flight, after which no enemy was visible. When 
the Federals were fairly landed, Jackson suddenly appeared 
in large force from ambush in the adjoining woods and 
opened upon them with shot and shell. The numbers were 
so unequal that although the Federals at first stood their 
ground, they were eventually compelled to retreat hastily, 
and recross the river under the Rebel fire. In this unfor- 
tunate affair the Federal killed, wounded, and missing num- 



176 BTONEWALL JACKSON. 

bered three hundred and twenty-six out of a force of about 
seventeen hundred. 

The Confederates did not tarry many days upon the 
banks of the Potomac. After holding Harper's Ferry for 
less than a week they evacuated it, having first removed 
much of the property which they had captured, and de- 
stroyed some of the public buildings. They then retreated 
up the valley of the Shenandoah, from which they proceeded 
by the mountain passes into Eastern Virginia, where they 
once more took up their position on the banks of the Rap- 
pahannock. 



CHAPTEE XI. 

THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBUKGH. 

Jackson's Antagonists — Burnside supersedes McClellan — ^The Army of the 
Potomac marches to the Rappahannock — The Battle- Ground — The Fede- 
rals cross the River — Positions of the two Commanders — Advance of 
Franklin — Heroism of a Confederate Officer — Opening of the Battle- 
Sublimity of the Scene — Attack on the Fortifications — The Field of 
Death — The Combat described — Reserves brought into Action — Tho 
Losses — Councils of War — The River recrosscd. 

It was Jackson's fortune, during his short but brilliant 
military career, to have crossed swords with some of the 
best and bravest of the Federal Generals. Thus far in our 
narrative we have found him opposed by Lander, on the 
Upper Potomac ; by McDowell at Bull Run ; by Shields, and 
Banks, and Fremont in the Virginian Valley ; by Porter 
and Heintzelman, with McClellan as their chief, in the 
eventful conflicts near Richmond; by Pope, from the 
Rapidan to the lines of Washington ; and by Hooker and 
Sunmer, with McClellan again as chief, at the battle of An- 
tietam. The remainder of his career we shall find passed 
upon a still different field, on which his might and military 
genius were resisted by still different Generals. 

On the fifth of November the army of the Potomac was 
subject to a change of commanders. It was on that day 
8* 



178 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

ordered, by direction of the President, " that Major-General 
McClellan be relieved from the command of the army of 
the Potomac, and that Major-General Burnside take the 
command of that army." 

This army had remained in the neighborhood of Harper's 
Ferry until near the end of October, when it commenced 
its march by the upper gaps of the Blue Ridge to Warren- 
ton. After Burnside took command, it removed from the 
latter place to Falmouth, on the northern bank of the Rap- 
pahannock, by which river it is sej)arated from the town of 
Fredericksburgh. On the twenty-first of November, Gene- 
ral Sumner, who commanded the advance, demanded the 
surrender of the last-named town, but his request was not 
complied with. 

It was General Burnside's intention to have crossed the 
Rappahannock at once, and taken possession of the heights 
above Fredericksburgh before General Lee Avas able either 
to concentrate his forces there or to fortify the position. 
The delay in the arrival of pontoon-bridges beyond the time 
anticipated compelled General Burnside to postpone active 
operations, and gave the Confederates sufficient time to 
gather together their army and erect fortifications. 

After nearly a month of preparation, the Federal com- 
mander felt himself in a position to cross the river on the 
eleventh of December. At this date, General Lee, being 
deceived in the point where the river would be crossed, had 
rapidly despatched Jackson with a large portion of the army 
to a spot fifteen or twenty miles down the river, and D, U. 



THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURGIT. 179 

Hill with another portion of it in the opposite direction, in 
anticipation of the Federals crossing at one or other of 
those neighborhoods. Finding the Confederate forces thus 
divided, General Burnside hoped that by rapidly throwing 
over the whole of his command close to Frcdericksburgh 
he would be enabled- to fight the enemy in detail, and gain 
possession of the heights commanding the town. That this 
plan did not succeed is probably owing to the delay of a 
whole day in moving the army across the river, which 
delay was caused by the stubborn resistance of a brigade 
of Mississippi riflemen under General Barksdale, who 
thrice by their deadly fire compelled the Federals to aban- 
don the attempt. This delay enabled Jackson and Hill to 
rapidly countermarch their forces and join the main army. 

The battle of Fredericksburgh may be conveniently di- 
vided into two i^arts, in each of which the scene of action 
and the actors were distinct. It will render our narrative 
more intelligible to the reader if we lay before him separate 
descriptions of these two scenes of action, and of the com- 
batants who met upon them. 

The opposing armies that were to meet in deadly encoun- 
ter were thus divided : General Burnside's army was divid- 
ed into three grand divisions, under the respective com- 
mands of Generals Sumner, Franklin, and Hooker. General 
Lee's army was divided into two large coiys cVarmee^ com- 
manded respectively by Generals Longstreet and Jackson. 

The theatre of operations extended from the town of 



180 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Fredericksburgh on the west, and along the south side of 
the Rappahannock for two miles to the east. 

The stage on which the western battle was fought was 
immediately behind the town. Here the land forms a pla- 
teau, or smooth field, running back for about a third of a 
mile. It then rises for forty or fifty yards, forming a ridge 
of ground, which runs along to the east for about a quarter 
of a mile, where it abuts at Hazel Dell, a ravine formed by 
the Hazel River, which empties into the Rappahannock east 
of the town. At the foot of the ridge runs the telegraph- 
road, flanked by a stone Avail. This eminence was studded 
with Rebel batteries. To the west, along up the river, the 
ridge prolongs itself to opposite Falmouth, and beyond ; 
and here, too, batteries were planted on every advantageous 
position. Back of the first ridge is another plateau, and 
then a second terrace of wooded hills, where a second line 
of fortifications were placed. Between the rear of the 
town and the first ridge a canal runs right and left, and 
empties into the river some distance above Falmouth. Tlie 
plain between the suburbs of the city and the first ridge of 
hills was the scene of encounter between General Sumner's 
forces and those of General Longstreet. General Hooker's 
division, which had been held in reserve on the northern side 
of the river, reenforced Sumner toward the close of the day. 

The eastern battle-field was a short distance down the 
river. The ridge upon which the town is built slopes ab- 
ruptly in this direction to a comparatively le vel or undulat- 
ing country, which stretches for some miles down the Rap- 



THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBUEGH. 181 

pahannock. This plain is bordered on the south by thickly 
wooded heights, situated about two miles from the river 
Upon these heights Rebel batteries were placed. The 
battle-ground, tliough very marshy in some places, pre- 
sented a fine field for military evolutions. The turnpike 
leading to Fredericksburgh runs about half a mile from and 
nearly parallel to the river. Beyond is the railroad, and 
still farther beyond the woody range of hills in which the 
Rebels were strongly intrenched. On this battle-ground 
General Franklin was met by General Jackson. The lat- 
ter's forces were thus placed : A. P. Hill on the left, and 
next to Longstreet's command ; behind A. P. Hill, D. H. 
Hill was held in reserve. Ewell's division, now command- 
ed by General Early, held the woody heights, with Walk- 
er's artillery in his front, and Stuart's cavalry and horse- 
artillery on his extreme right. 

The Federal army had for some days been coiling itself 
up into a small space, and on the morning of Thursday, the 
eleventh of December, lay closely huddled together oppo- 
site to Fredericksburgh. Before daylight tents were struck 
and knapsacks packed, and the troops prepared to cross the 
river. The Rebels oj)ened their fire upon the pontooners, and 
stoutly resisted the laying of the bridges. The firing Avas 
replied to by the Federals, who shelled the town for several 
hours. The Seventh Michigan regiment, who volunteered 
for the purpose, were sent across the river in boats to dis- 
lodge the Rebel sharp-shooters, who were picking off the 
bridge-builders. After several ineffectual attempts, the 



182 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

bridges were completed, and during Thursday night and 
throughout Friday the river was crossed by the Federal 
troops. The right grand division, under Sumner, crossed 
upon three pontoon-bridges, placed opposite the city, and 
the left grand division, under Franklin, upon two pon- 
toon-bridges, i3laced about two miles down the stream. 
The centre grand division, under Hooker, comprising forty 
thousand men, was held in reserve upon the north bank of 
the river. 

But little firing took place on Friday. Either General 
Lee wished to avoid damaging the town, which was at 
the time in possession of the Federals, or he was desirous 
of offering no further obstacle to the crossing, in the hopes 
that when he had got the Federal army between himself and 
the river, he would be enabled either to crush it or drive it 
into the stream. The Federals occupied the day in mass- 
ing their troops, and in preparing for the coming struggle. 
Their siege-guns on the north side of the river at times 
fired upon the intrenchments of the Rebels, with the view 
of learning their position, but General Lee did not feel in- 
clined to reply to the fiery interrogatories. 

General Burnside's proposed plan of attack was that the 
battle should be opened by Franklin, who should advance 
and take possession of a road in the rear of the line of 
heights, which road formed a connecting link between Jack- 
son's and Longstreet's commands. TJiis jDosition being 
gained, it was supposed that the Rebels would be so much 
confounded that Sumner could successfully storm and cap- 



THE BATTLE OF FEEDEEICKSBUEGH. 183 

ture their intrenchments in the rear of Fredericksburgh. 
That this plan did not succeed, it is stated, is owing to 
Franklin having misunderstood his instructions, and having 
made the attack with an insufficient force. 

Saturday the thirteenth dawned hazily, the fog being 
such as at that time of the year generally prefaces a genial 
Indian summer's day. The day was to become an eventful 
one in American history. The two great actors in the 
drama j^laced themselves in conspicuous positions to watch 
its progress. General Burnside took his stand at the Phil- 
lips House, situated on an eminence a little to the north of 
the town. General Lee took up his position upon a hill 
south-east of the heights w^hicli command Fredericksburgh, 
and which hill, from its having been his usual station, bore 
his name. 

At half-past eight General Lee, accompanied by his full 
staff, rode slowly along the front of the Confederate lines, 
from left to right, and then took up his station for a time in 
the rear of Jackson's extreme right. As soon as Franklin's 
advance could be seen through the fog, General Stuart 
moved up a section of his horse-artillery in front of the 
position occupied by Lee, and opened with effect upon the 
Federal flank. Stuart ordered Major John Pelham, his 
chief of artillery, to advance one gun considerably nearer to 
Franklin, and to open upon him. Major Pelham obeyed, and 
opened the fire of a twelve-pounder ISTapoleon gun with 
great precision and deadly effect upon the Federal flank. 
The galling discharges of this gun quickly drew upon it the 



184 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

fire of three of Franklin's field-batteries, while from across 
the river two other heavy batteries joined in the strife, and 
made Major Pelham and his gun their target. F.^r hours 
not less than thirty Federal cannon strove to silence Pel- 
ham's pop-gun, but strove in vain. Pelham's unyielding and 
undemonstrative courage, and his composure under the dead- 
liest fire, had long made him conspicuous, but never were 
his daring qualities the subject of more glowing eulogy than 
upon this occasion. General Lee exclaimed : " It is inspir- 
iting to see such glorious courage in one so young." Major 
Pelham was not more than twenty-two. General Jackson 
remarked : " With a Pelham upon either flank, I could van- 
quish the world." 

At a subsequent period of the day. General Lee assumed 
his station on the hill which bears his name, and there, in 
company with General Longstreet, calmly watched the re- 
pulse of the Federal efibrts against the heights near which 
he stood. Occasionally General Jackson rode up to the 
spot and mingled in conversation with the other two leading 
Generals. Once General Longstreet exclaimed to him, " Are 
you not scared by that file of Yankees you have before you 
down there?" to which Jackson replied: ""Wait till they 
come a little nearer, and they shall either scare me or I'll 
scare them." 

The battle opened when the sun had let in enough light 
through the mist to disclose the near proximity of the Fed- 
eral lines and field-batteries. The first shot was fired short- 
ly before ten o'clock from the batteries in the Federal centre, 



THE BATTLE OF FKEDERICKSBURGH. 185 

and was directed against General Hood's division of Long- 
street's corps, which division was drawn up immediately on 
Jackson's left, and was next to the large division command- 
ed by General A. P. Hill. The Pennsylvania reserves, com- 
manded by General Meade, advanced boldly under a heavy 
fire against the Confederates, who occupied one of the copse- 
wood spurs, and were for a time permitted to hold it ; but 
presently the Confederate batteries opened on them, and a 
determined charge of infantry drove the Federals out of the 
wood in confusion, from which nothing could subsequently 
rally them. Simultaneously a heavy fire issued from the 
batteries of A. P. Hill and Early's divisions, which was 
vigorously replied to by the Federal field-batteries. The 
only advantage momentarily gained by Franklin in this 
quarter, was on the occasion of the collapse of a regiment 
of North-Carolina conscripts, who broke and ran, but whose 
place was rapidly taken by more intrepid successors. The 
cannonading then became general along the entire line. 

A spectator of this part of the battle thus graphically 
describes the conflict : " Such a scene, at once terrific and 
sublime, mortal eye never rested on before, unless the bom- 
bardment of Sebastopol, by the combined batteries of 
France and England, revealed a more feai*ful manifestation 
of the hate and fury of man. The thundering, bellowing 
roar of hundreds of pieces of artillery, the bright jets of 
issuing flame, the screaming, hissing, whistling, shrieking 
projectiles, the wreaths of smoke, as shell after shell burst 
into the still air, the savage crash of round-shot among the 



186 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

trees of the shattered forest, formed a scene likely to sink 
forever into the memory of all who witnessed it, but utterly 
defying verbal delineation. A direct and enfilading fire 
swept each battery upon either side, as it was unmasked ; 
volley replied to volley, crash succeeded crash, until the eye 
lost all power of distinguishing the lines of combatants, and 
the plain seemed a lake of fire, a seething lake of molten 
lava, coursed over by incarnate fiends, drunk with fury and 
revenge." 

Twice the Federals, gallantly led and handled by their 
officers, dashed against the forces of Generals A. P. Hill and 
Early, and twice they recoiled, broken and discomfited, and 
incapable of being again rallied to the fray. The Confed- 
erates drove them with horrid carnage across the plain, and 
only desisted from their work when they came under the 
fire of the Federal batteries across the river. Upon the 
extreme Confederate right. General Stuart's horse-artillery 
drove hotly upon the fugitives, and kept up the pursuit until 
after dark. 

Upon the Confederate right, where the antagonists fought 
upon more equal terms than they did upon their left, the 
loss sustained by the Rebels was the greatest ; but still it 
was not so great as that of their Federal assailants. 

Meanwhile, the battle which had raged so furiously be- 
tween the forces of Franklin and Jackson, was little more 
than child's play as compared with the onslaught made by 
Sumner and Hooker against Longstreet in the rear of Frcd- 
ericksburgh. 



THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBUEGIT. 187 

During the first two hours of the conflict between Jack- 
son and Franklin, Sumner's skirmishers liad. been briskly- 
engaged. The force in Fredericksburgh had driven the 
Rebels out of the suburbs of the town, and rested their col- 
unms on the canal. The time had now come, in accordance 
with the Federal plan, to attempt an advance on the Kebel 
position. It was mid-day. The orders were to move rap- 
idly, charge up the hill, and take the batteries at the point 
of the bayonet. Orders easy to give, but ah I how hard of 
execution ! 

Here is a picture of the position which had to be stormed. 
A bare plateau of a third of a mile in width is required to 
be crossed by the storming party. In doing this they would 
be exposed to the fire of the enemy's sharp-shooters, posted 
behind a stone wall running along the base of the ridge ; to 
the fire of a double row of rifle-pits on the rise of the crest ; 
to the fire of the heavy batteries placed behind earthworks 
on the top of the hill ; to the fire of a powerful infantry force 
lying concealed behind these batteries ; to a plunging fire 
from the batteries on the lower range ; and to a double 
enfilading fire from 

" Cannon to the right of them, cannon to the left of them." ^ 

The distance to be traversed was short, but hoAV many ob- 
stacles there were in the way of its being passed scathless ! 
To French's division of Couch's corps was assigned the 
duty of making the first attempt to cross this fiery plain. 
This division was composed of the brigades of Kimball, 



188 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Morris, and Weber. It was supported by Hancock's divi- 
sion, consisting of the brigades of Caldwell, Zook, and 
Meagher. The men were formed under cover of a small 
knoll in the rear of the town, and skirmishers were deployed 
to the left toward Hazel Dell. At the same time, General 
Sturgis supported and moved up and rested on a point on 
the railroad. 

The scene which was witnessed when French's troops 
rushed upon this plateau was truly fearful. " The moment 
they exposed themselves upon the railroad," writes one who 
viewed the same, " forth burst the deadly hail. From the 
rifle-pits came the murderously-aimed missiles ; from the 
batteries, tier above tier, on the terraces, shot planes of fire ; 
from the enfilading cannon, distributed on the arc of a circle 
two miles in extent, came cross-showers of shot and shell. 

" Imagine, if you can, for my resources are unequal to the 
task of telling you, the situation of that gallant but doomed 
division. 

"Across the plain for a while they swept under this fatal 
fire. They were literally mowed down. The bursting shells 
make great gaps in their ranks ; but these are presently 
filled by the ' closing up ' of the line. For fifteen immortal 
minutes at least, they remain under this fiery surge. On- 
ward they press, though their ranks grow fearfully thin. 
They have passed over a greater part of the interval, and 
have almost reached the base of the hill, when brigade after 
brigade of Rebels rise up on the crest and pour in fresh 
volleys of musketry at short-range. To those who, through 



THE BATTLE OF FREDEllICKSBURGH. 189 

the glass looked on, it was a perilous sight indeed. Flesh 
and blood could not endure it. They fell back shattered 
and broken, amid shouts and yells from the enemy. 

" General French's division went into the fight six thou- 
sand strong ; late at night he told me he could count but 
fifteen hundred !" 

Again and again the Rebel battlements were attempted 
to be stormed, but each time with the same terrible result. 
" Where is Franklin ?" began to be the eager inquiry. 
" Every thing depends on Franklin coming up on the flank." 
Sumner sent a message begging Burnside that Franklin be 
directed to advance. But Franklin could not advance. He 
had enough to do at the time to hold his own, for Jackson 
had thrown in reenforcements, and was pushing hard to 
turn his left. 

At four o'clock the reserves had not been sent into action. 
Hooker's central grand division, comprising forty thousand 
men, were still on the north bank of the river. At Sumner's 
request, General Burnside directed them to cross, which 
they immediately did, notwithstanding the Rebel fire di- 
rected upon the pontoons. Half an hour afterwards, and 
prodigious volleys of musketry announced that Hooker 
with the reserves was engaged, but the last assaulting col- 
umn had hardly got into action before the sun went down, 
and night closed around the clamorous wrath of the com- 
batants. 

The last assaulting column consisted of the divisions of 
Humphrey, Monk, Howard, Getty, and Sykes. The last 



190 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

assault is thus described by the writer from whom we last 
quoted : " Creej^ing up on the flank by the left, Getty's 
troops succeeded in gaining the stone Avail which we had 
been unable all day to wrench from the Rebels. The other 
forces rushed for the crest. Our field-batteries, which, 
owing to the restricted space, had been of but little use all 
day, were brought vigorously into play. It was the fierce, 
passionate climax of the battle. From both sides two miles 
of batteries belched forth their fiery missiles athwart the dark 
background of the night. Volleys of musketry were poured 
forth such as we have no parallel of in all our experiences 
of the war, and Avhich seemed as though all the demons of 
earth and air were contending together. Rushing up the 
crest, our troops had got within a stone's throw of the bat- 
teries, when the hill-top swarmed forth in new reinforce- 
ments of Rebel infantry, who, rushing upon our men, drove 
them back. The turn of a die decides such situations. The 
day was lost ! Our men retired. Immediately cannon and 
musketry ceased their roar, and in a moment the silence of 
death succeeded the stormy fury of ten hours' battle." 

The morning had opened with a general want of confid- 
ence, and gloomy forebodings that the plan of battle was 
fraught with danger. It was difficult to comprehend that 
tlie Confederate fortifications could be successfully assailed 
from the front, and there were grave doubts as to whether 
the operations on the right and on the left could be made to 
harmonize. That these surmisin^js and these forebodinirs 
were not fallacious was evidenced by the result of the day's 



THE BATTLE Or FREDERICRSBURGH. 191 

engagement. That the Federals suffered a severe defeat 
there need be no denial, and this too after they had brought 
the entire of their vast force into action, whilst their an- 
tagonists, from the impregnable position which they held, 
were enabled to repel their assault with half the number. 

The Federal loss in the day's battles amounted to one 
thousand one hundred and fifty-two killed, between six and 
seven thousand wounded, and about seven hundred prison- 
ers, which latter were paroled and exchanged for about the 
same number taken from the Confederates. The Con- 
federate killed and wounded amounted to about eighteen 
hundred. 

After the close of the engagement, councils of war were 
held at the headquarters of each army. At that called by 
General Bumside, and which was attended by Sumner, 
Hooker, and Franklin, the Commanding General proposed 
to renew, the attack on the following morning, but he was 
induced to abandon his intentions at the earnest solicita- 
tions of his brother Generals. It is reported that during 
General Lee's council General Jackson slept throughout the 
proceedings, and that upon his being awakened and asked 
for his opinion, he curtly exclaimed : " Drive 'em in the 
river ! drive 'em in the river !" 

On the two days succeeding the battle (Sunday and Mon- 
day) the time was principally occupied in burying the dead 
and caring for the wounded. There was little to disturb 
the quiet of these bright and breezy days, beyond the 
sounds of musketry from some skirmishing parties, and a 
little artillery firing. 



192 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

It now became palpable to the Federal Generals, m con- 
sequence of the little opposition which Lee had offered to 
the crossing of the river, that he had been desirous of getting 
them between his intrenchments and the Rappahannock, so 
that he could eventually crush them. It was now advisable 
to get out of the trap into which they had Mien ; conse- 
quently, at a council of war held on Monday, it was unani- 
mously agreed upon that the river be recrossed that night. 
This decision was not made known to the troops until after 
they had arranged their bivouacs in the evening. It was 
necessary that the withdrawal should be accomplished 
silently and rapidly, and that every precaution should be 
taken to avoid observation, and thus escape drawing the 
Confederate fire. Intense darkness and a heavy storm 
favored the Federal retreat. Earth was strewn on the pon- 
toon-bridges, to deaden the sound of the artillery as it 
passed over ; but this expedient was barely necessary, as a 
gale of wind, blowing all night from the direction of the 
Rebel camp toward the Federal lines, rendered it impossi- 
ble for any sound to reach the former from the river. 

When some time after midnight, the stars had made their 
appearance in the sky, and the moon had risen to shed her 
pale light on the earth, the army of the Potomac had crossed 
the river and was rescued from the annihilation which the 
Rebel Generals had prepared and predicted for it. General 
Lee was compelled to admit that the masterly retreat of his 
army across the Potomac, after the battle of Antietam, had 
been surpassed by this successful passage of the Federal 
force across the Rappahannock. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORS VILLE. 

Jackson created Lieutenant-General — Burnside's proposed Operations — 
Hooker placed in Command of the Army of the Potomac — Winter Quar- 
ters — Movements against Fredericksburgh — The Rappahannock crossed — • 
Hooker reaches Chancellorsville — Description of the Place — Lee's and 
Jackson's Movements — Arrival at Chancellorsville — Jackson's Celebrated 
Attack upon the Federal Flank — Receives his Death- Wound — A Federal 
Officer's Interview with Jackson — Subsequent Engagements — Losses in 
the Battles — Lee's Estimate of Jackson's Abilities. 

In every army promotion i-s sure to follow uj^on every 
successful display of military ability, unless the soldier who 
proves his claim to an increase of honor has already arrived 
at the highest rank in the service. In the Confederate army 
there were two degrees of rank superior to that which Jack- 
son held at the battle of Fredericksburgh — Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral and General. That battle gained him the first, death 
alone prevented him from obtaining the second. It was, 
therefore, under the dignified title of a Lieutenant-General 
that Jackson was known in the few remaining months of his 
short military career. It took but a year and a half for the 
man who, at the beginning of the rebellion Avas the Colonel 
of a Virginia regiment, to rise to the second rank in the 
army in which he served. But if promotion had been made 
9 



194 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

to keep pace with his increase of renown, we have no hesi- 
tation in stating that the highest rank Avas that to which he 
was justly entitled. We fancy that the reason why he did 
not obtain the highest military title is attributable to the 
misfortune of birth. Had it been Jackson's lot to have been 
a scion of one of the proud Virginian families, instead of a 
humble son of the Old Dominion, there can be little doubt 
but that the case would have been far different. At any 
rate, he had the proud satisfaction of knowing that what 
honors he did receive Avere fairly earned by him, and that 
the Government under which he served owed him more for 
his services than he owed it for its honors. 

Immediately after the battle of Fredericksburgh, General 
Sigel hastened to reenforce Burnside with the corps under 
his command, but no farther active operations were attempt- 
ed until the close of the month. General Burnside then 
prepared for another aggressive movement which embraced 
an attack in front of Fredericksburgh, and a formidable raid 
of cavalry and light artillery, which was to threaten the 
communications of the Confederates, and divert their atten- 
tion from the main attack. The execution of the movement 
was fixed for the last day of the year. The column des- 
tined to make the raid was actually in motion, when Presi- 
dent Lincoln sent a despatch forbidding the movement, hav- 
ing been induced to do so in consequence of the protest of 
some of General Burnside's subordinate officers. 

By Wednesday the twenty-first of January, the Federal 
commander was again prepared to move on Fredericks- 



THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLOESVILLE. 195 

burgh. Every thing having been arranged, and the Rebels 
having been completely deceived by feints, as to the point 
at which the river was to be crossed, the army was put in 
motion on Tuesday, with the intention of commencing active 
operations early on Wednesday morning. However, a heavy 
rain-storm and a tempest of wind occurred during the night, 
and so moistened the roads as to render it impossible to 
move either pontoons or artillery with the celerity demand 
ed. This, added to the evident intentional delay of some of 
the superior officers in the marching of their troops, gave 
time to enable the Confederates to discover the Federal 
movement, and rally their forces to avert it. The moment 
for the surprise having thus passed, the movement was aban- 
doned. 

General Burnside having thus found himself thwarted 
in his operations by officers under his command, and feel- 
ing himself not properly supported by the Government, 
tendered his resignation, which was accepted, and on the 
twenty-sixth of January the command of the Army of the 
Potomac was transferred to General Hooker. 

The snows and storms of winter were a barrier to any 
military operations during the next three months. The op- 
posing armies took up their winter-quarters on opposite 
banks of the Rappahannock, and within sound of each 
other's bugles. At the close of April, when the snow had 
disappeared from the ground, and the winds of spring had 
somewhat hardened the roads, the bristling bayonet and the 
booming cannon were called on for more active duty thau 



196 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

that which for the jiast few mouths they had been accus- 
tomed to jDprform. 

General Hooker having massed what he termed " the 
finest army on the planet," commenced the offensive opera- 
tions of the year by a flank movement upon Fredericks- 
burgh, for which a portion of his army crossed the Rappa- 
hannock above that place, and gained a position in its rear 
distant ten miles west by south, whilst another portion 
crossed a short distance below the town, and menaced it 
from that quarter. But in this grand game of strategy he 
had to play with a formidable antagonist. If General Lee 
was at first nonplussed by Hooker's manoeuvres, he was soon 
able to grasp the situation on the military chess-board, and 
make the move which was most likely to checkmate his op- 
ponent. He abandoned his position in Fredericksburgh and 
the line for twenty miles doAvn the Rappahannock, which he 
had held for months, changed his front, and presented his 
face instead of his back to the Federal commander. 

General Hooker had adjusted his plan of procedure by 
the middle of April, but the unsettled weather, which is not 
uncommon to that month, prevented its being put into ope- 
ration until Sunday the twenty-sixth. He had, however, 
kept his own council, and even his corps commanders were 
unacquainted with the nature of the duties which they would 
be called on to perform. By Monday morning the entire 
army was in motion ; the vast area Avhich it covered for 
miles and miles in extent was an animated scene. Tents 
were struck, camps broken up, log huts abandoned, and their 



THE BATTLE OF CIIANCELLORSVILLE. 197 

recent occupants moved away on a dozen different roads, 
carefully concealing themselves from the Confederate view 
by marching througli woods and behind the knolls and 
ridges of the broken ground along the Rappahannock. 
Long trains of artillery, packed mules, and ambulances, in- 
termingled with the moving throng, and added to the pic- 
turesqueness of the scene. 

Shortly after Hooker took command, he abandoned the 
disposition of his army into grand divisions, and introduced 
the corps organization instead, and his army was now com- 
posed of seven coijys cVarmee. 

By Tuesday morning some idea of his plan was discern- 
ible. Three of the seven corps cTarmee — Reynolds's, Sick- 
les's, and Sedgwick's — had left their camps the night be- 
fore, and taken up their positions two miles below Freder- 
icksburgh, at the point where Franklin crossed in Decem- 
ber. The corps of Meade, Slocum, and Howard (formerly 
Sigel's) had already moved up the river, and on Tuesday 
were in the neighborhood of Banks's and United States 
Fords, respectively eight and eleven miles above Fredericks- 
burgh. It seemed probable that operations would be inau- 
gurated at the points above and below Fredericksburgh, 
though it was doubtful where the main attack would be 
made. By these movements Hooker had divided his array, 
and placed a space of a dozen miles between the two parts, 
Avhich caused them to be out of supporting distance of each 
other. He doubtless intended to make a demonstration at 
one point, and the real attack at the other. He was ulti- 



198 STONEWALL JACKSON. 



mately compelled to enter the lists with his antagonist at 
both points. 

Before dawn of Tuesday, and nnder cover of a veiy heavy 
fog, the pontoons were laid across the river at the point he- 
low Fredericksburgh, with but little opposition from the 
liebel rifle-pits. An effort to lay pontoons at a later hour, 
and lower down the river, was not so successful, and it was 
not until forty guns had been brought to bear upon the 
Rebel sharp-shooters that the pontoons could be success- 
fully placed. One division of each of the army corps, com- 
manded by Sedgwick and Reynolds, were sent across the 
river. The remaining four divisions left the cover of the 
fringe of hills which had sheltered them from tlie view of 
the Rebels, and by marching and countermarching round 
the crests, magnified their number to their enemy. This ruse 
had the effect of causing the Confederates to move their 
columns from down the river to the vicinity of Fredericks- 
burgh. These consisted of Jackson's entire corjis, which 
had been posted there as an army of observation. Jackson 
was now upon the field where he had given battle to Frank- 
lin the previous December, but in this case history was not 
to repeat itself, and he was not here to fight a second battle 
on the same ground. 

Let us now turn our attention to the three corps which 
had moved up the river. On the night of Tuesday, between 
ten P.M. and two a.m., Howard's entire corps crossed the 
Rappahannock on the pontoon bridge at Kelly's Ford, 
twenty-seven miles above Fredericksburgli. At daylight 



1 



THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORS VILLE. 199 

Sloe urn's coq)s followed, and during the forenoon Meade's 
corj^s \Fas thrown across. The movable column then struck 
direct for Germania Ford on the Rapidan River, distant 
twelve miles. General Meade, however, instead of taking 
this direction, on passing the river struck a road diverging 
eastward, and made Ely's Ford on the Rapidan, eight miles 
nearer than Gei'mania Ford to the embouchure of that 
stream into the Rappahannock. Both columns having 
crossed the respective fords, moved on Chancellorsville, at 
the junction of the Gordonsville turnpike with the plank- 
road leading to Orange Court-House. Communication was 
kept up between the two movable columns by a squadron 
of Pleasanton's cavalry, while another part of the same 
horsemen moved on the right flank of the outer column to 
protect it from Rebel cavalry attacks. This manoeuvre 
having uncovered United States Ford, (which lies between 
Kelly's Ford and Fredericksburgh — twelve miles from the 
latter,) Couch's corps, which had for three days been lying 
at that point, was passed over the Rappahannock by a pon- 
toon bridge on Thursday, without any opposition or indeed 
any demonstration more formidable than a brass band play- 
ing " Hail Columbia." This force also converged toward 
Chancellorsville, and on Thursday night four army corps — 
namely, Howard's, Stevens's, Meade's, and Couch's — were 
massed at that point. The same night General Hooker 
with his staff reached Chancellorsville, and established his 
headquarters in the only house there. 

The military movement had thus far been executed with 



200 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

celerity and success, and it was certainly a siajnal achieve- 
ment to have marched a column of seventy-five thousand 
men, each laden with sixty pounds of baggage, together 
with artillery and trains, thirty-six miles in two days ; and 
to have bridged and crossed two streams, along a line which 
a vigilant enemy undertook to observe and defend, with a 
loss of perhaps half a dozen men, one wagon, and two mules. 

Tliat General Hooker was himself satisfied with his past 
proceedings is evidenced in an order which he issued upon 
reaching Chancellorsville. In it he stated : *' It is with 
heartfelt satisfaction that the General Commanding an- 
nounces to the army that the operations of the last three 
days have determined that our enemy must ingloriously fly, 
or come out from behind their defences and give us battle 
on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits 
him." 

On Friday morning General Hooker began the strate- 
getic disposition of his force. It Avas formed in a line of 
battle of a triangular or redan shape, resting with its wings 
respectively on the Rappahannock, between Banks and 
United States Fords, and Hart's Creek, and having its 
apex at Chancellorsville. 

The day was occupied with operations along the skir- 
mish line and reconnoissances for the purpose of feeling the 
enemy. 

The situation of Chancellorsville is in the middle of a 
clearing in the woods, which takes the form of an irregular 
ellipse, about a mile in length and half a mile in width. 



THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. 201 

The solitary house that makes up Chancellorsville stands 
almost in the middle of this opening. The ground in the 
region between here and Fredericksbm-gh is broken and 
wooded, there being occasional clearings in the forests. It 
rises as it nears Fredericksburgh, when it develops into 
bold heights. Its strategetic importance is derived from 
the fact that it covers the Gordonsville turnpike and the 
Orange Court-House plank-road, and threatens the line of 
Gordonsville. 

This wild, dreary region is called the Wilderness, which 
name the Confederates have given to the battle which here 
took place. 

"Working parties of the Federals were employed during 
the whole of Friday night in throwing up breastworks, and 
the woods resounded with the strokes of a thousand axe- 
men felling trees for the purpose of constructing abattis. 
Similar working parties of the Rebels were engaged in like 
manner not half a mile distant. On Saturday morning both 
armies were well intrenched, and it became the question 
which of the two should come out and give battle. 

Having followed General Hooker to the place where he 
was compelled to encounter the Confederates, we will now 
enter the camp of General Lee, and narrate his march to 
the scene of strife. 

On AYednesday, the twenty-ninth of April, the Col- 

federates discovered that General Hooker had broken up 

his camp at Falmouth, and that hia troops had crossed the 
9* 



202 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Rappahaniiock at the places we have ah-eady named. The 
discovery was not a satisfactory one, as General Lee was at 
the time not only deprived of his " old war horse," General 
Longstreet, but his force was less in numbers than it had 
been for some time. But the Rebels were relieved when 
they witnessed the unruffled calmness of their Commanding 
General, who, without bustle or agitation, made the neces- 
sary disposition of his forces for the purpose of warding off 
the blow with which he was threatened. General Early 
was left with his division to guard Fredericksburgh and its 
vicinity, whilst Lee and Jackson slowly marched wesf^vard 
along the turnpike and plank-roads in the direction of Chan- 
cellorsville. 

From the evidence which General Hooker had given at 
the court of inquiry, relative to the defeat at Fredericks- 
burgh the previous December, General Lee was in a mea- 
sure somewhat enabled to define the Federal plan. He con- 
sequently held all his troops, except Early's division, closely 
in hand, and on Thursday threw np earthworks midway 
between Fredericksburgh and Chancellorsville, and there 
arrested the advance of Hooker's force. 

On Thursday, however. General Stuart had somewhat 
delayed the advance of the Federals near Kelly's Ford by 
cutting the head of one of their columns. The Confederate 
General Anderson, who was stationed with his division at 
United States Ford, was on the same day compelled to fall 
back, recoiling before the immense Federal host which was 
approaching. 



THE BATTLE OF GHANGELLOESVILLE. 203 

Hooker did not press Lee hotly, but in his turn fell sloAvly 
back toward Chancellorsville, followed still more slowly by 
the Confederates; On Thursday evening, Stuart attacked a 
small force of the Federals on the Spotsylrania road, and 
caused them to retire with some loss. 

On Friday, the first of May, General Lee continued to 
advance, and General Hooker to fall back. But as the op- 
posing forces neared Chancellorsville, the former penetrated 
the latter's purpose in retreating, when he discovered that 
about five hundred yards in front of that place, in the midst 
of a dense thicket of scrub-oak or black-jack, the Federal 
pioneers had thrown up very strong intrenchments at riglit 
angles to the turnpike and plank-roads, with an abattis of 
felled trees bristling outward in front, and seemingly defy- 
ing the passage of any living and w^alking animal. Running 
southward for about a mile from the plank-road, the Federal 
works turned short to the west, until they again met the 
plank-road between Chancellorsville and Orange Court- 
House, toward the latter of which points the plank-road 
deflects in a south-westerly direction after leaving Chancel- 
lorsville. Within these works the Federals stood thickly 
and savagely at bay, their powerful artillery massed on 
some high ground a little in tlie rear. Their j^osition was 
fearfully formidable — repulse, if the works were attacked 
solely from the front, seemed inevitable — the loss of life to 
the assailants anyhow must have been ghastly. Under these 
circumstances. General Lee resolved to outflank the flanker, 

Li the early part of Saturday several small engagements 



204 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

took place at diiFerent parts of the lines, and toward the 
close of the day commenced the battle of Chancellorsville, 
which did not terminate until mid-day on Sunday. It was 
on Saturday evening that the subject of our memoir received 
those wounds which resulted in his death, and deprived the 
Confederate army of its most brilliant commander. 

The movements of the Rebels seemed to indicate to the 
Federals that they were retreating, and as the main line of 
the retreat was occupied by the latter's forces, an attack to 
recover that line was confidently expected. The surprise of 
the Federals was consequently very great when, on Saturday 
afternoon, they found Jackson upon their extreme right and 
rear, between Chancellorsville and Germania Mills. 

The particulars of this battle have been so graphically 
narrated by the Special Correspondent of The (London) 
Times in the Confederate States, who was present at the 
battle, that we have no hesitation in transferring them to 
tliese pages. He says : 

" If ever man was adapted for the execution of a plan dar- 
ing and hazardous in the extreme, but depending for its 
safety upon the celerity and audacity of its execution, as- 
suredly that man was ' Stonewall' Jackson. With the first 
break of dawn he plunged with his three famous divisions — 
tlie first commanded by A. P. Hill ; the second, in the absence 
of Trimble, by Coulson ; the third, lately under D. H. Hill, 
by Rhodes — into the country-road which leads to the Fur- 
nace.* At the Furnace he ascended a hill, and was viewed 

• A road which diverges from the plank-road two miles east of Chancel- 



THE BATTLE OP CHANCELLORSVILLE. 205 

by the enemy from an adjoining hill, called Fairview, and 
heavily though harmlessly shelled. With his usual temerity 
he sent back word to General Lee that the Furnace hill must 
be held by one regiment until his artillery and wagons had 
got by. A South-Carolina regiment was accordingly sent 
there, but was, I believe, shortly carried forward in com- 
pany with the cavalry, and in its place three or four com- 
panies of a Georgia regiment were left to guard the critical 
spot. The enemy discovering the weakness of the guard, 
attacked and took the Georgians j^risoners. The last of 
Jackson's batteries was passing as the Georgians were cap- 
tured, whereupon Captain Brown unlimbered his guns, 
opened on the Federals, and drove them back. He then 
passed on after Jackson, whose wagons had to fall back and 
pursue their General by a more circuitous route. Marvel- 
lous to say, it never seems to have suggested itself to Gen- 
eral Hooker, although this large body of Confederates passed 
under his nose, that his rear was in danger, or that General 
Lee, greatly weakened, was lying within a few hundred 
yards of the mighty Federal host of eighty thousand men. 

" At four in the afternoon General Lee, knowing that 
Jackson could not be far from his destination, opened fire 
steadily along his whole line, feeling the gigantic masses of 
his intrenched foe. For two hours and a half a heavy fire 
was interchanged between the hostile batteries, each j^arty 
holding its own line. Suddenly, about half-past six in the 

lorsville, and enters it again five miles to the west of that place. lu this 
road is situated a foundry called the Catherine Furnace, 



206 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

evening, the rattle of musketry was heard in the distance, 
followed by the loud boom of artillery, and instantly General 
Lee passed word along his lines • ' Jackson at work ; press 
them heavily everyAvhere.' Swift and sudden as the falcon 
swooping on her prey, Jackson had burst on his enemy's 
rear, and crushed him before resistance could be attempted. 
Passing right over the plank-road, and extending almost up 
to the Ely's Ford road, getting behind Chancellor sville, the 
three noble divisions raced gallantly forward, drunk with 
the animal joy and inebriation of battle. Not a trench had 
been dug, not a tree felled, not a stick raised to resist them. 
The unconscious Federals, engaged in cooking their supper — 
one regiment on dress-parade — heard in the sudden volley 
of Jackson's long line the knell of their doom. An intelli- 
gent Virginia farmer, Mr. Green, taken prisoner by the 
Federals, heard one of their Generals say to his men about 
six o'clock : ' Jackson and his rebels don't dare face us to- 
night. Get your supper ready, boys, and enjoy yourselves.' 
With faces turning eastward, secured, as they fancied, by 
the dense masses of their friends within the intrenchments 
in front, without a thought of their rear, the Federals rum- 
maged their knapsacks for all the luxuries with which Bos- 
ton, New-York, and Philadelphia pamper and recruit their 
Sybarite soldiers. Before that supper could be eaten, the un- 
washed, unkempt, starving ragamuffins of the South had burst 
on them from the west, and scattered them, nerveless, panic- 
stricken, helpless, like chalF before the blast. Major Peyton, 
of General Lee's staff, found a coffee-pot, with cups round it, 



THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLOESVILLE. 207 

standing in the wood. He poured the liquid out, but it was 
so hot he could not drink it. What might have been the 
result but for one casualty, which alone almost counterveiled 
the victories of a week, who shall say ? Formation or order 
the Federals had none ; reserves, tactics, organization, dis- 
j)osition, plan, all went down before the whirlwind sudden- 
ness of the surprise. The loss of the Confederates was lu- 
dicrously small ; their advance like that of a white squall in 
the bay of Naples. 

" Night had fallen. About eight o'clock General Jackson 
rode forward with two or three of his staif along the plank- 
road, and advanced one hundred and fifty yards in front of 
his foremost skirmishers, peering with those keen eyes which 
you might fancy could be seen through the densest gloom 
forward into the night. He turned to ride back — a heavy 
fire from one of his own regiments, hailing from South-Caro- 
lina, but whose number I w^ill in mercy withhold, saluted 
him. One bullet struck his left arm four inches below the 
shoulder, shattering the bone down to the elbow. The 
wound was intensely painful ; he half fell, half was lifted 
from his horse. An aid galloped back to A. P. Hill to re- 
port that Stonewall Jackson was wounded and lying in the 
road. General Hill galloped hastily up, flung himself from 
the saddle, began, choked with emotion, to cut the cloth of 
Jackson's sleeve, when suddenly four of the Federal videttes 
appeared on horseback, and Avere fired on by the stafi'-offi- 
cers. The videttes fell back upon a strong and swiftly ad- 
vancing Ime of Federal skirmishers. General Hill and all 



208 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

the officers and couriers of both staiFs had no alternative but 
to mount and ride for their lives, leaving Jackson where he 
lay. Right over the ground where was stretched the wound- 
ed lion the Federals advanced. Within their grasp lay the 
mightiest prize, the most precious jewel in the Confederate 
crown ; but it was not destined that Stonewall Jackson 
should be struck by a Federal bullet, or yield himself prisoner 
to a Federal soldier. As General Hill and his companions 
galloped back they also became the target of the same luck- 
less South-Carolinians. General Hill's boot was cut by a 
bullet, but his leg uninjured ; Colonel Crutchfield, Chief of 
Artillery to Jackson, was seriously if not mortally wounded ; 
Boswell, of Jackson's staff, killed ; Howard, Engineer to A. 
P. Hill, knocked from his horse, but whether killed, or 
Avounded, or a prisoner, is not known ; two or three couriers 
killed. Without losing a moment. General Hill threw his 
own skirmishers forward, backed by heavy supports, and 
the ground on which lay General Jackson was again occu- 
pied by the Confederates. But in the mean time two more 
bullets, both from his own men, had struck him as he lay on 
the ground, one passing through the wrist of his shattered 
arm, the other entering the palm of his right hand and com- 
ing out through its back. He Avas at once carried to the 
rear and his arm instantly amputated under chloroform. 

"Never was it more apparent than this evening what 
Jackson's presence and influence are to his men. With his 
wound c<iased the fiery desperation of their onslaught ; tid- 
ings of it flew like wildfire through the ranks ; the routed 



THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. 209 

Federals found themselves no longer closely pressed, and 
took heart of grace as they poured grape and canister down 
the plank-road. Between nine and ten General A. P. Hill 
was struck by a bit of shell on the calf of his leg, which 
caused a painful contusion, and forced him reluctantly from 
the field. At ten p.m., General J. E. B. Stuart was by Gen- 
eral Lee withdrawn from his cavalry command, and put 
temporarily at the head of General Jackson's corps, stripped 
as it was of the two leading Generals who have hitherto 
partaken its dangers and glories without being arrested by 
disease or stricken by bullet." 

The same writer thus describes the appearance of the 
field upon which Jackson received his death-wound, as 
viewed by him after the termination of the battle : 

" With astonishing accuracy Stuart's enfilading fire had 
torn through their ranks. In every variety of attitude of 
death, torn, rent, and shivered into scarcely distinguishable 
humanity, lay what so lately had breathed and moved. 
Still more terrible and strangely appalling was the road 
from Chancellorsville toward Orange Court-House, along 
which and on either side of which Jackson had descended to 
the harvest of death. Tumbrils overthrown, caissons ex- 
ploded, horses dead and dying, sometimes with broken legs, 
sometimes with ghastly wounds ; human bodies in every 
guise of suflering and death, tortured and riven trees, and, 
most fearful of all, a crackling fire, running swiftly through 
the grass and black-jack brushwood, and suggesting dread- 
ful thoughts of wounded and helpless men perishing by the 



210 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

most agonizing death known to humanity, froze the hlood 
with horror, as the spectator in agony turned his eyes to 
heaven, to gain a moment's relief from the unutterable and 
woeful anguish of earth." 

A quarter of an hour previous to the discharge of the fatal 
shots which deprived Jackson of his life, a Federal officer, 
who was wounded and taken prisoner, appeared before him. 
This officer was Captain Wilkins, of the staff of General A. 
S. Williams, who commanded a division of the National 
Army. The particulars of the interview between that offi- 
cer and General Jackson are here given, as we find them 
narrated in a Northern journal: 

" When captured, Captain Wilkins was placed in charge 
of a guard, who took him a short distance to the rear, where 
he met General Jackson and staff. Jackson was sitting on 
his horse at the head of the column, surrounded by his staff. 
He wore a new suit of gray imiform, and was a spare man 
with a weather-beaten face and a bright, grayish-blue eye. 
He had a peculiarly sad and gloomy expression of counte- 
nance, as though he already saw a premonition of his fate. 
It was but fifteen minutes later that he was mortally wound- 
ed. As they came into his presence the guard announced : 
' A captured Yankee officer.' Captain Wilkins asked if it 
was Major-General Thomas J. Jackson. On being answered 
in the affirmative, he raised his hat. General Jackson said ; 
'A regular army officer, I suppose — your officers do not 
usually salute ours.' Captain Wilkins replied : ' No, I am 
not ; I salute you out of respect to you as a gallant officer.' 



THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLOESVILLE. 211 

He tlien asked his name and rank. On being told, he fur- 
ther inquired what corps and commanders were opposed in 
front. Captain Wilkins replied that, as an officer, he could 
not return a truthful answer to such questions. Jackson 
tlien turned to the guard and ordered them to search him. 
He then had in the breast-pocket of his coat Hooker's confi- 
dential orders to corps commanders, giving a plan in part of 
the campaign ; the countersigns of the field for a week in 
advance, and the field returns, giving the effective strength 
of the Twelfth corps (Slocum's) on the preceding day. 
These were all exceedingly important papers. 

" Fortunately, before the guard could carry the orders 
into execution, a terrific raking lire was oj^ened on Jackson's 
column by twenty pieces of artillery, from an eminence on 
the plank-road. The first eight or ten shots flew over the 
heads of the column. The men and gunners dismounted, 
leaving horses and guns. Our artillery soon got the range 
with more precision, and the shell and round shot ricochetted 
and ploughed through this dense mass of the enemy with 
terrific effect. Shells were continually bursting, and the 
screams and groans of the wounded and dying could be 
heard on every side. As an instance of the terrible effect 
of this fire, one of the guard was struck by a solid shot just 
below the hips, sweeping off both his legs. A battery came 
dashing up, but when they got into the vortex of the fire the 
gunners fled, deserting their guns, and could not be made to 
man them. An officer, splendidly moimted and equipped, 
attempted, in a most gallant manner, to rally them. A ball 



212 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

struck him on the neck, completely severing his head from 
his body and leaving his' spinal column standing. His body 
rolled to the ground, and the horse galloped to the rear. 
One of the shells struck a caisson full of artillery ammunition, 
which, exploding, ascended in a crater of various colored 
flame, and showered down on the heads of the men below a 
mass of fragments of shot and shell. The loss inflicted by 
this fire must have been terrible, placing considerable over 
one thousand men hors du cornbat and effectually breaking 
up the contemplated attack of the column. 

" While Captain Wilkins was being taken to the rear he 
devoted his attention to disposing of the important papers 
which he had on his person. He dare not take them from 
his pocket to attempt to tear them up, but continuously 
placed his hand in his pocket and worked the paj)ers into a 
ball, and as they were passing along, got them into his' 
bosom, and finally into the arm-pit under his arm, where he 
carried them all that night. The next morning the guard 
halted to get their breakfasts, and a soldier was trying to 
kiudle a fire to cook some coffee which they had taken from 
our men. The wood was damp and the fire refused to burn. 
The soldier swore at it until his patience gave out, when 
Captain Wilkins asked him if he would not like some kin- 
dlings, and handed him the important papers. The soldier 
took them, and, not dreaming of their importance, used 
them to kindle the fire." 

Our narrative is drawing to a close. The military career 



THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. 213 

of Thomas Jonathan Jackson has terminated. But we have 
yet to be silent watchers by the bedside of the dying sol- 
dier, and to accompany his remains to the tomb. However, 
before we enter upon a description of the mournful scenes 
which are left to us to narrate, it is necessary that we 
should briefly sum up the remaining events which occurred 
between the opposing armies, before the series of conflicts 
which were initiated by the engagement of the first of May 
were brought to an end. 

The portion of Hooker's army which was broken by Jack- 
son's onslaught, and which so ingloriously fled from the 
battle-field, was Howard's corps, formerly commanded by 
General Sigel. These troops have been subject to much 
censure for their conduct on this occasion, but they claim 
that if they had not been deceived in the position of the 
enemy, and had not been deprived of their cavalry, by which 
they could have learned the true position of the Rebels in 
their front, the disaster would not have taken place. 

Fighting took place during the greater part of the night 
that Jackson fell, and continued with increased fury during 
Sunday morning, when the Federals Avere driven within 
their breastworks. On that day General Sedgwick's troops 
captured the heights in the rear of Fredericksburgh, and 
emboldened by their success over Early's division, followed 
it on the road for a short distance toward Chancellorsville. 
On Monday, General Lee being satisfied that Hooker would 
not further give him battle, repaired to Fredericksburgh, 
and, in person, marshalled the brigades of the three divi- 



21i 



STONEWALL JACKSON. 



sioiis in that part of the field. That evening he drove Sedg* 
wick back with great slaughter, when the latter repaired to 
Banks's Ford and crossed the river. The day had been a 
quiet one at Chancellorsville, and on the following morning 
General Hooker, being satisfied that his attempt to capture 
the Confederate army was a failure, retired from his posi- 
tion, and sought refuge on the northern bank of the Rappa- 
hannock. 

In connection with these military proceedings, a dashing 
cavalry raid was made by General Stoneman, who ap- 
proached Avithin a few miles of Richmond, and severed 
Lee's communications by railway with that place. 

The Federal losses in the engagements which took place 
in these early days of May were extremely heavy, and num- 
bered about twenty-five thousand in killed, wounded, and 
missing. The Confederates estimated their loss at one 
thousand killed, four thousand wounded, and one thousand 
prisoners. They claim to have captured from the Federals 
seven thousand six hundred and fifty prisoners. On the 
other hand, General Hooker stated in a general order, 
issued after the battles : " We have taken from the enemy 
five thousand prisoners and fifteen colors, captured and 
brought off seven pieces of artillery, and placed hors da 
combat eighteen thousand of his chosen troops." 

But the Confederates suffered one loss which was to them 
irretrievable. We need not say that that was the loss of 
General Jackson. General Lee considered the deprivation 
of his services so great that, before he was aware that the 



THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLOESVILLE. 215 

accident would result in death, he exclaimed to a friend : 
*' Had I been able to dictate events, most gladly would I 
have been disabled in my own person if he had been spared. 
Such an executive officer the sun never shone on. I have 
but to show him my design, and I know that if it can be 
done it will be done. 'No need for me to send and watch 
him. Straight as the needle to the pole he advances to the 
execution of my purpose. Pure, high-minded, imselfish, he 
has no earthly thought of himself or his own advancement. 
The sole aim and object of his life is the good of his 
country.*' 



CHAPTER XUI. 

LAST MOMENTS AND OBSEQUIES. 

Jackson's Daily Condition after being Wounded — lie is attended by Mrs. 
Jackson — His Last Remarks — His Death — General Lee's Order to tne 
Army — Jackson's Successor — The Remains reach Richmond — Received 
with Public Honors and lie in State — Arrive in Lexington- The 
Funeral. 

"While General Jackson was being carried on a litter to 
the rear of the battle-field at Chancellorsville, one of the 
bearers was shot down, and the wounded soldier fell from 
the shoulders of the men. This fall caused him to receive 
a severe contusion, which, added to the injury of his arm, 
created severe pain in his side. The General was left on 
the ground for five minutes, until the fire under which they 
were situated slackened. He was then placed in an ambu- 
lance and carried to the field-hosj)ital at Wilderness Run. 
On being conveyed thither, frequent inquiries were made by 
the soldiers : " Who have you there ?" He said to the doc- 
tor : " Do not tell the soldiers that I am wounded." 

From the large amount of blood which he lost, he fancied 
that he was dying, and stated so to Dr. McGuire. It was 
feared that he would have bled to death, consequently a 
tourniquet was immediately applied to stoj) the further efiu- 
sion of blood. The shock which he had received rendered 





CEN.R.E. LEE. 



LAST MOMENTS AND OBSEQUIES. 217 

him nearly pulseless for the space of two hours. After tlie 
reaction, a consultation was held between the surgeons pre- 
sent, and it was decided that amputation of the arm was 
necessary. Jackson was asked : " If we find amputation 
necessary, shall it be done at once ?" He replied : " Yes, 
certainly. Dr. McGuire ; do for me whatever you think is 
right." He bore the operation, which was performed while 
he was under the influence of chloroform, extremely well. 

On Sunday morning, after a good sleep, the wounded sol- 
dier was cheerful, and in every way was doing well. He 
desired that his wife should be sent for, and asked minutely 
about the battle. He spoke cheerfully of its result, and 
said smilingly : " If I had not been wounded, or had had an 
hour more of daylight, I would have cut off the enemy from 
the road to the United States Ford, and we w^ould have 
had them entirely surrounded, and they would have been 
obliged to surrender, or cut their way out. They had no 
other alternative. My troops sometimes may fail in driv- 
ing the enemy from a position, but the enemy always fail to 
drive my men from a position." 

His chaplain left him during the morning to go and per- 
form service before the troops. The text was suggested by 
General Jackson, and was taken from Romans viii. 28 : 
" We know that all things work togeti.er for good to them 
that love God." It was one of the General's favorite texts, 
and furnishes a key to the character of his religious belief. 

Not for one moment did he question or murmur when 
struck down at the zenith of his fame. " I consider these 
10 



218 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

woiincls a blessing. They were given me for some good 
and wise pm-pose. I would not part with them if I could." 
Such was substantially the language he used during the last 
few days of his life. 

He complained on Sunday of the effects of the fall from 
the litter on the previous day, but no contusion or abrasion 
was apparent as the result thereof. However, he did not 
complain of his wounds, and never spoke of them imless 
when they were alluded to. 

Jackson slept well on Sunday night, and on Monday was 
carried to Chancellor's house near Gurness's depot. He 
was cheerful during the day, conversed about the battle, 
and inquired after all his officers. During his removal, he 
complained greatly of the heat, and begged that a wet cloth 
be applied to his stomach, which was done and added greatly 
to his relief. He slept well that night, and relished his food 
the following morning. 

On Monday he received the following note from General 
Lee, expressive of the regret the latter felt upon receiving 
intelligence of the accident that had befallen him : 

Chancellorsville, Ya., May 4, 1863. 
To Lieutenant-General T. J. Jackson : 

Geneeal : I have just received your note, informing me 
that you were wounded. I cannot express my regret at 
the occurrence. Could I have directed events, I should 
have chosen for the good of the country to have been dis- 
abled in your stead. I congratulate you upon the victory 
which is due to your skill and energy. 

Most truly yours, R. E. Lee, General. 



LAST MOMENTS AND OBSEQUIES. 219 

On Tuesday, his wounds wore proceeding very well. He 
asked : " Can you tell me, from the appearance of the 
w^ounds, how long I w^ill be kept from the field ?" He 
seemed much satisfied when he was told that they were do- 
ing remarkably well. During the day he did not complain 
of any pain in his side, and expressed a desire to see the 
members of his staff"; but he was informed that such an 
interview would not be advisable. 

As Jackson's wounds were progressing so favorably, it 
was intended to have removed him on Wednesday to Rich- 
mond, but the removal was prevented by a fall of rain. 
That night, while his attending surgeon, who had been de- 
prived of rest for three nights, was asleep, the patient com- 
plained of nausea, and ordered his boy to place a wet towel 
over his stomach, which was done. The surgeon was 
awakened about daylight by the boy exclaiming: "The 
General is in great pain." The pain was in the right side, 
and resulted from incipient pneumonia and a slight degree 
of nervousness, which Jackson attributed to his fall from 
the litter. 

On Thursday Mrs. Jackson arrived, greatly to the joy 
and satisfaction of the wounded hero, whom she faithfully 
nursed during the few remaining days of his life. By that 
evening all pain had ceased, but the patient suffered greatly 
from prostration. This prostration increased on the fol- 
lowing day, but no pain was experienced. On Sunday 
morning it was apparent that Jackson was rapidly sinking, 
when it became necessary to intimate the same to his wife. 



220 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Mrs. Jackson was then allowed full and free converse with 
her husband. She told him that he was going to die, upon 
which he replied : " Very good, very good. It is all 
right." 

The closing scene of Jackson's life bore a striking resem- 
blance to that of the first Napoleon. While in the case 
of the great European Captain "the ruling passion was 
strong in death," it was none the less so in that of the 
Southern soldier. The battle-field, with all " the pomp and 
circumstances of war," was all before him, while what re- 
mained of life was ebbing fast. His mind wandered back, 
in the delirium of approaching dissolution, to the scenes of 
the battle. He gave the word of command, uttered words 
of encouragement to regiments staggering under fire, or- 
dered his commissary to hasten on with needful food to 
exhausted troops. Almost the last sentence was the order 
he had so often given in life ; " A. P. Hill, prepare for 
action." 

Sunday, the tenth day of May, 1863, will ever be a day 
of mournful memory to the people of the sunny South. On 
that day set the most resplendent star in their galaxy of 
Generals. He, who had forsaken the quietude of the Pro- 
fessor's life to place himself at the head of charging columns, 
on that day breathed his last. He, who, amid the blaze of 
cannon, the rattle of musketry, and the clash of steel, had 
won honor and renoAvn, died a soldier's death, and died 
as he had lived — strong in his religious faith. His years 
numbered only thirty-nine, but he had gained during the 



LAST MOMENTS AND OBSEQUIES. 221 

two closing years of his life more of military glory than ia 
won by many whose lives are permitted to be extended to 
three-score years and ten. 

General Jackson's death was officially announced to the 
army in which he served by the following order, which was 
issued by the Commanding General : 

GENERAL OEDEES NO. 61. 

Headquarters, Northern Virginia, May 11, 1863. 
With deep grief the Commanding General announces to 
the army the death of Lieutenant-General T. J. Jackson, 
who exj^ired on the tenth instant, at a quarter-past three p.m. 
The daring, skill, and energy of this great and good soldier, 
by an all-wise Providence, are now lost to us. But while 
we mourn his death, we feel that his spirit still lives, and 
will inspire the whole army with his indomitable courage 
and unshaken confidence in God as our hope and strength. 
Let his name be a watchword to his corps, who have fol- 
lowed him to victory on so many fields. Let the officers 
and soldiers imitate his invincible determination to do 
every thing in the defence of our beloved coimtry. 

JX. E. Lee, General, 

When Jackson felt that death was approaching, and that 
his corps would soon be deprived of its commander, he 
frequently expressed to his aids his desire that General 
Ewell, in whom he had great confidence, might be appoint- 
ed his successor. In accordance with this desire, General 
Ewell received the appointment. 

In no city of the Soutli was General Jackson more greatly 
respected than in the Confederate capital. So anxious were 



222 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

the people of Richmond to be informed of the daily condi- 
tion of the illustrious chieftain, that on the Sunday upon 
which he died, his critical position was announced from tlie 
pulpits of many churches. This announcement prepared 
the j)eople for the mournful intelligence which Avas so soon 
to follow ; but it was for a time hard for them to believe in 
the correctness of such imwelcome news. It was to this 
city that Jackson's remains were removed after he had 
breathed his last. 

Richmond clothed herself in mourning, and cast off the 
cares of business, so that she might fittingly receive the 
body of the departed hero. On Monday afternoon, a large 
concourse of ladies and gentlemen attended at the railway 
station to receive the corpse. It arrived about four o'clock, 
in charge of the following officers : 

Of Lieutenant-General Jackson's staff: 

Major S. Pendleton, Adjutant-General in charge ; Dr. 
Hunter McGuire, Medical Director ; Major W. J. Hawks, 
Lieutenants Morrison and Smith, Aids. 

On the part of the army : 

Major D. B. Bridgford, Captain H. K. Douglas. 

On the part of the Commonwealth of Virginia : 

Dr. John Mayo, Aid to the Governor, Colonel John C. 
Shields. 

The coffin was covered with wreaths, which had been 
placed upon it by the ladies of Ashland as the remains 
passed that place. With as little delay as possible, the 
body was removed under military escort to the Governor's 



I 



LAST MOMENTS AND OBSEQUIES. 223 

mansion, to which place it was followed by perhaps the 
largest assemblage of persons ever collected in Richmond. 

On Tuesday, the last offices of honor to the dead soldier 
were performed by the citizens of Richmond with fitting 
magnificence. We give the particulars of the proceedings, 
as we find them narrated in the Richmond Enqidrer of the 
following day : 

" In no public ceremony, not even the grand display 
which attended the inauguration of the monument to Wash- 
ington some years ago, has Richmond been rendered more 
memorable than upon this occasion, when every branch of 
the Confederate and State Governments, with an army of 
bronzed and hardy heroes, and the whole city pouring forth 
its living tribute, aged and young of both sexes, joined in 
the pageant, and gave it all the imposing grandeur which 
sympathy, sorrow, love and admiration united, could be- 
stow. 

" In accordance with arrangements made upon Monday, 
the procession was formed upon Capitol Square at ten 
o'clock, stretching along Monument Avenue from the Gov- 
ernor's mansion, out upon Grace street, and consisted of the 
following civil and military bodies : 
Public guard, with armory band, followed by the Nineteenth 

and Fifty-sixth Virginia Infantry, Major Wren's bat- 
talion of cavalry, and the Richmond Lafayette 
artillery, all preceded by a full band. 
Hearse drawn by four white horses, approj^riately capari 
soned, the hearse draped and plumed, and the coffin 
wrapped and decorated with flowers. 



224 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Pall-bearers, consisting of the staff of the lamented hero, 
and several other officers of high rank, wearing 
the insignia of mourning. 
Carriages, containing — first, His Excellency the President, 
and the family of the deceased, followed by personal 
friends and distinguished admirers ; various chiefs 
of Departments, State and Confederate ; civil, 
military, and judicial ; the Mayor of the 
city and members of the Council. 
*' On either side, and in the rear, an immense throng of 
ladies and gentlemen, children, servants and soldiers, min- 
gled ready to move along with the procession. The ban- 
ners were draped with crape, and the swords of the military 
officials were draped at the hilt. The artillery bore the sad 
insignia ; the arms of the infantry were reversed ; the 
drums were muffled, and at the given hour a gun stationed 
beneath the monument boomed forth the signal for motion. 
" General George W. Randolph, Chief Marshal of the 
ceremony, proceeded to the front, and the cavalcade moved 
slowly out upon Governor street, through the Mansion Gate. 
The bells of the city commenced tolling, and soon a melan- 
choly dirge swelled forth in moving tones from the leading 
corps of musicians. The procession passed down Governor 
to Main street, turning up the latter, and proceeding as fai 
as Second street. The streets were crowded with people ; 
stores were closed, as the pageant moved along, and from 
many windows floated flags draped in mourning. The flags 
upon the public buildings remained as on Monday, at half- 



LAST MOMENTS ANB OBSEQUIES. 225 

mast. The scene on Main street was beyond adequate de- 
scription, so impressive, so beautiful, so full of stirring asso- 
ciations, blending with the martial dirges of the bands, the 
gleam of musket, rifle, and sabre drawn, the sheen of black 
cannon, thousands of throbbing hearts, and the soul of sor- 
row that mantled over all. From Second street, throuo:h 
which the procession partly passed, it wheeled into Grace 
street, down which it returned to Capitol Square, entering 
by Monument Gate. At different stages of the obsequies 
the cannon, which remained stationed at the foot of the 
monument, pealed out in tones of thunder, which heightened 
the effect of the tolling bells, the solemn music, and the 
grand display. 

" The hearse being drawn up in front of the Capitol, the 
coffin was removed to the hall of the House of Representa- 
tives, where it was laid in state in front of the Speaker's 
seat. Thousands crowded into the building, many bearing 
splendid bouquets with which to adorn the coffin, and at 
night hundreds were turned away, after hours of fruitless 
efforts, without seeing the face of the beloved departed war- 
rior. All the courts in Richmond passed resolutions of re- 
spect to the memory of Jackson, and adjourned to attend 
the ceremonies." 

Jackson had never seen his home since the war broke 
out ; nor would he, he declared, until it was over, " unless 
the war itself should take him thither." The war did take 
him thither, but alas ! it was not for him to see the place he 
loved so well. Richmond would fain have found a fitting 
10=^ 



226 STONEWALL JACKSON. 



1 



resting-place for the remains of one she so much honored, 
but all that she was enabled to do was merely to pay them 
a passing tribute as they were being conveyed to their final 
home. Says the Richmond Examiner: 

"All the poor honors that Virginia, sorely troubled and 
pressed hard, could afford her most glorious and beloved 
son, having been offered to his mortal part in this capital, 
the funeral cortege of the famous Jackson left it yesterday 
(Wednesday) morning, on the long road to ' Lexington, in 
the Valley of Virginia.' It was the last wish of the dead 
man to be buried there, amid the scenes familiar to his eyes 
through the years of his manhood, obscure and unrecorded, 
but perhaps filled with recollections to him not less affecting 
than those connected with the brief but crowded period 
23assed upon a grander stage. This desire, expressed at 
such a time, demanded and has received unhesitating com- 
pliance. Yet many regret that his remains will not rest in 
another spot. Near this city is a hill crowned by secular 
oaks, washed by the waters of the river identified with what 
is great in the State's history from the days of Elizabeth to 
the present hour, which has been well selected as the place 
of national honor for the illustrious dead of Virginia. There 
sleep Monroe and Tyler. We have neither a Westminster 
nor a Pantheon, but all would wish to see the best that we 
could give conferred on Jackson. Hereafter, Virginia will 
build for him a stately tomb, and strike a medal to secure 
the memory of his name beyond the reach of accident, if 
accident were possible. But it is not possible ; nor is a 



LAST MOMENTS AND OBSEQUIES. 227 

niomiment necessary to cause the story of this man's life to 
hxst when bronze shall have corroded and marble crumbled." 

Jackson's remains reached Lexington on Thursday after- 
noon, having been escorted thither by a portion of his staif^ 
the Governor of the State, and a committee from Lynch- 
burgh. " TJiey were received," says the Lynchburgh Vir- 
gmian^ " at the boat-landing by the corps of cadets, under 
General F. H. Smith, the professors of the Institute, and a 
large number of citizens, and were escorted in solemn pro- 
cession to the Institute barracks, where they were deposited 
in the old lecture-room of the illustrious deceased. The 
room was just as he left it two years before, save that it 
was heavily draped in mourning — not having been occupied 
during his absence. The hall which so often echoed the 
voice of the modest and unknown professor, received back 
the laurel-crowned hero with the applause of the world and 
tlie benedictions of a nation resting upon him. It was a 
touching scene, and brought tears to many eyes, when the 
body was deposited just in front of the favorite chair from 
which his lectures were delivered. Professors, students, 
visitors, all were deeply moved by the sad and solemn occa- 
sion, and gazed in mute sorrow on the affecting spectacle of 
the dead hero lying in his familiar lecture-room. Guns 
vvxre fired every half-hour during the day in honor of the 
departed chieftain, and an air of gloom was visible on every 
face." 

The funeral took place on the next day, Friday, the fif- 
teenth of May. The coffin was enveloped in the Confeder- 



tllS '" STONEWALL JACKSON. 

ate flag, and covered with flowers. It was borne on a 
caisson of the cadet battery, draped in mourning. The 
procession consisted of such officers and soldiers of the old 
Stonewall brigade as liappened at the time to be in the 
county. It awakened thrilling associations to see the shat- 
tered fragments of this famous brigade assembled imder the 
flag which for some time was the regimental standard of 
Jackson'^s old Fourth regiment, and which that regiment 
carried in triumph over the bloody field of Manassas on the 
ever memorable twenty-first day of July. 

An interesting part of the ceremonies of the day were 
the religious services. These took place in the church in 
which the great chieftain had delighted to Avorship God for 
ten years before the beginning of his late brilliant career. 
They were conducted by the Rev. Dr. White, a pastor 
whom he tenderly loved, and whose religious counsels he 
modestly sought, even in the midst of the most absorbing 
scenes through which, during the last two years, he had 
passed. 

The body was deposited in the cemetery connected with 
the church, where his first wife and child are buried. 

There, within the borders of that quiet town in which 
had been spent the happiest and most peaceful moments of 
his life ; there, under the shadow of that institution in which 
he had worked so assiduously, lie the remains of one that 
Lexington may Avell be proud to own. There, under the 
green Virginian sward, lies all that remains of one of Vir- 
ginia's noblest sons. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE SOLDIER AND THE MAN". 

Jackson's Military Career an Episode in the Rebellion — Compared with the 
Puritan Leaders of England — Resemblance to Havelock — Northern Ap- 
preciation of his Gallantry — Qualities as a Commander — "Mystery tli# 
Secret of Success " — Firmness under Fire — Love of Truth — Hatred of 
Flattery — Alleged Unfitness for Separate Command — Admiration of 
General Lee — Personal Appearance and Habits — Estimates of Jackson's 
Character — Viewed from a Northern Stand-point. 

Of all the names which the surges of the Rebellion have 
thrown upon the dry sands of history, there is none stands 
more prominent than does that of Thomas Jonathan Jack- 
son. His military career was brief, but it was crowded 
with startling incidents. It was the career of an enthusi- 
astic, chivalrous, and religious soldier. The story of that 
career is an episode in the history of the Rebellion, which 
we have thought worthy of being separated from the gen- 
eral narrative of the events with which the last few years 
have been so prolific. We have therefore woven together 
such of the threads of this hero's life as we were enabled 
to gather, and have placed them before our readers in as 
j)erfect a fabric as possible. 

There are many points in Jackson's character which 



230 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Btrongly remind us of Cromwell, and Hampden, and Pym, 
and other sturdy and God-fearing Puritans of the time of 
England's great Rebellion ; but we have cause to regret 
that the resemblance is not perfect. These patriotic Puri- 
tans unsheathed the sword to light the battle of freedom 
and of the people against the powerful autocratic element 
which in their days ruled the destinies of the British nation ; 
whilst, on the contrary, Jackson, in a misguided moment, 
was induced to bare his blade for the purpose of wielding 
it on the side of a Southern slave-niling oligarchy, and 
against the free people of his own country. 

There is much, too, in Jackson's character, that resembles 
the pictures which have been drawn of Havelock, who, a 
few years ago, rendered his name famous by the brilliancy 
of his military performances in India. Added to a strong 
religious feeling which was predominant in the character of 
both these Generals, they alike possessed great activity of 
mind and fertility of resource, and each exercised over those 
under his command such a parental sway, that his entire 
force was ever ready to move almost as one man at the 
beck of its commander. This is plainly shown in the 
celerity of movements and in tlie long and rapid marches 
which so mainly tended to the greatness of their successes. 
Each considered that he had a duty to perform — his duty to 
]iis country — a duty, however, which in one case was 
directed to a sectional part thereof, and against the best 
interests of the entire nation ; and the singleness of purpose 
of each Avas so great, that he removed every obstacle out 



THE SOLDIER AND THE MAN. 281 

of the way which interfered with the proper performance 
of this duty — never omitting that greater duty of all men, 
the duty to his Maker ; never undertaking any enterprise 
without first invoking the Deity to guide his steps and to 
bless his endeavors with success. 

The death of a brave soldier is ever mourned by friend 
and foe, and it is honorable to the loyal people of America 
that they did not hear of Jackson's death without a thrill 
of emotion passing through their hearts. Though they 
viewed him as one of the most dangerous and most reso- 
lute of their antagonists, they ever considered him one of 
the most conscientious and most chivalrous. Though they 
had reeled under the blows whicli he had inflicted upon 
them, and though they had felt the full force of the light- 
nings of battle Avhich he had launched against them, they 
knew that the blows had been struck by a valorous hand, 
and that it was a noble spirit that had directed those fear- 
ful lightnings. 

" War," writes one of our Northern journalists, referring 
to Jackson's death, " is never so hateful as when it kills in 
men the suj^remely manlike quality of justice to our ene- 
mies ; and the spontaneous, irrepressible tribute which rose 
to all men's lips when they heard that the bravest of the 
rebel brave had died a soldier's death, was a victory won 
by the heart and temper of the N'orthern people, on which 
the muse of history will linger, perhaps, with something 
like relief from her sad chronicle of men arrayed for mutual 
slaughter." 



232 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

" The Northern people," also says the same writer, 
** honored in Jackson qualities which the worst cause can- 
not obscure. They respected the sincerity of the man as 
much as they admired the daring of the soldier. They 
believed him misled, but they felt that he was no misleader. 
They lamented in his victories only this, that feats which 
reflected such renown upon American gallantry should have 
been performed in a cause so fatal to American hopes ; and 
not even the sense of gain we all must feel in the loss to the 
rebel hosts of such a captain, can make us stand otherwise 
than with uncovered heads before the early grave of a 
heroic chieftain, the example of whose high qualities the 
truest and most loyal soldier of the Union and the Right 
may honorably lay to heart." 

We here collect together, from a variety of sources, the 
opinions of many people upon Jackson's characteristics as 
a man and as a soldier. It is scarcely to be expected that 
our civil strife will mould for the pages of history another 
hero in the sounding of whose praises friend and foe will be 
equally unanimous. 

Jackson was undoubtedly a man of very extraordinary 
military genius. His unconquerable will seemed to defy all 
opposing forces, and to wring victory from the very jaws of 
fate. His qualities as a commander are summed up by a 
Southern writer in the following terms : 

" He knew what was necessary to insure victory — was 
fertile in resource — of unfailing prudence in guarding 
against disaster, never leaving unstrengthened that fatal 



THE SOLDIER AND THE MAN. 233 

weak point in the dam, through which the flood will slowly 
but surely work its way, sweeping every thing eventually 
before it. With him there were no trifles — notliing Avas too 
small or unimportant to guard against. Like the painter, 
who, when criticised for his multitudinous touches, replied, 
'These may seem trifles, but they secure perfection, and 
perfection is no trifle,' he never rested until he had seen 
in person that all things were attended to, down to the 
minutest details ; riglitly thinking that the grand result was 
worth any amount of trouble. He never failed to keep 
his line of retreat open, and left nothing to good fortune. 
All was calculation of forces, time, and material. 

" His dispositions for attack Avere always perfect, thor- 
ough, and tlie very best that the time and place would 
admit of. He uniformly proceeded on the hypothesis that 
the assailing force possessed from that circumstance an 
enormous advantage ; and, once in motion, he advanced 
with the utmost rapidity, and struck with all his strength. 
If one blow failed, another was delivered ; if that was 
unsuccessful, every available force he could control was con- 
centrated for another and another. It was only when the 
overpowering numbers of the enemy made the encounter 
liopeless, that he retired with dogged, sullen deliberation — 
as dangerous when retreating as Avhen advancing. 

" His tenacity of purpose was invincible. Never has a 
soul of more stubborn nerve been born into the world. He 
refused to recognize the possibility of defeat, and never 
knew when he was whipped. At Kernstown he was firmly 



234: STONEWALL JACKSON. 

convinced that if daylight had continued, his little handful 
of weary troops, worn down by exhausting marches, and 
shattered by a day of terrible conflict, would have put to 
rout the fourfold forces of Federals in front of them. At 
Manassas, he believed that with ten thousand men he could 
have captured Washington. In Charles City he was con- 
fident that if McClellan was attacked in his defences near 
Harrison's Landing, his army would be forced to surrender. 
At Fredericksburgh he projected and nearly executed an 
audacious assault, with the bayonet, upon Burnside's entire 
force in front of our position at nightfall. Who shall say 
that on any of these occasions Jackson miscalculated his 
strength, or over-estimated his ability ? History has re- 
corded the battles which he won. Who shall say that those 
which he declared his ability to win would have resulted in 
defeat ? 

" He struck boldly, but formed his plans in secret. Mys- 
tery is the fiivorite resort of charlatans ; but with Jackson 
it was the herald of victory. He talked little, and measured 
his words when speaking of military affairs. ISTo one knew 
whither he was going — what he designed. He j)roceeded 
upon the sound and excellent maxim that a secret is always 
guarded from indiscretion when confined to a single jierson ; 
and the person whom he selected as the sole repository of 
his plans was himself. He even put himself to great trouble 
to mask his designs — camping often when he arrived at 
cross-roads, and leaving thus that body of quidnuncs, which 
are found in every army, profoundly puzzled as to what 



THE SOLDIER AND THE MAN. 235 

direction he would take with his command upon the mor- 
row. On one occasion he reprimanded an officer on the 
march for engaging dinner for head-quarters at a house a 
few miles in advance, upon the highway which the troops 
Avere pursuing ; it afforded information of his line of march 
to that extent, and so was reprehensible. A favorite device 
with him was to institute inquiries in tlie presence of the 
crowd around him as to roads and Avater-courses in a direc- 
tion which he did 7iot intend to take ; even to order maps 
to be prepared, and roads laid down, as though for instant 
use. Having thus set every gossip talking and predicting 
his intentions, he would calmly march directly in the oppo- 
site direction. 

" ' Mystery, mystery, is the secret of success ! ' 
" He was just to his officers and men, taking up preju- 
dices rarely for or against persons, and measuring out equal 
justice to all. !N"o man could say that he had treated him 
Avith conscious unfairness ; and if a calm examination of 
those cases Avherein he is said to have acted from personal 
dislike, be instituted, it Avill be found that he proceeded 
upon grounds which appeared to him incontrovertible, and 
not from haste and ill-temper. Ill-tempered, in the proper 
meaning of the phrase, he never was. He Avas stern, abrupt, 
liarsh at times, but the occasion always demanded plain 
speech ; and his object of reprimand, correction, or repulse 
of ill-advised interference once attained, the offence Avas 
entii-ely forgotten, and the offender restored completely to 
his former position. 



236 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

" He liad the faculty of calculating forces, rarely devel- 
oped. He always knew his strength and his weakness. 
When he attacked, it was because he knew that victory 
was, humanly speaking, in his grasp. He based his calcu- 
lations not upon numbers only, but upon position, material, 
the morale of his trooj^s, and the effect of the situation upon 
the morale of the enemy. He estimated to their full extent 
the decisive character of a sudden, bold, and obstinate at- 
tack. He trusted most to the bayonet, but had a marked 
fondness for artillery. He did not overestimate its value in 
inflicting injury upon the enemy, but he trusted greatly to 
its influence upon the morale of his opponents. To ' de- 
moralize ' the enemy was a large part of his military phi- 
losophy, and he rightly thought that a foe disheartened is a 
foe half beaten. 

" In summing up, briefly and generally, the peculiarities 
of Jackson's military genius, it may be said, without un- 
meaning panegyric, or the least disposition to over-estimate 
his faculties as a leader, that he was profound and compre- 
hensive in his plans — as rapid and mortal as a thunderbolt 
in execution ; that he possessed a courage in the face of 
danger which no peril could affect, no possible reverse, 
however sudden, unexpected, and disheartening, deprive 
him of; that he was cautious, j^rudent, judicious in all his 
dispositions ; lastly, that he possessed the native faculty of 
penetrating the intentions of the enemy, of guarding him- 
self wholly from sur])rise, of delivering his blows upon the 
weakest point, and of making war on all occasions and 



THE SOLDIER AND THE MAN. 2B7 

against the most dangerous opponents, with the mastery, 
precision, and success of the greatest leaders which the 
world has yet produced." 

Jackson's firmness when under fire is also thus alluded 
to by the same writer : 

" What marked him as one of the ' men of fate ' Was 
his astonishing equanimity in the face of perils which would 
have overwhelmed other men ; his cool determination not 
to ' give up ; ' his refusing to entertain the idea that he 
could be defeated. At Manassas he surveyed with utter 
calmness the terrible spectacle of the Confederate lines 
reeling back before the Federal hosts, pressing down with 
their enormous reserves of infantry and artillery ; and Avhen 
General Bee, with uncontrollable anguish in his voice, told 
Jackson that the day was going against them, his cold re- 
ply was : ' Sir, we will give them the bayonet.' The last 
words of the brave South-Carolinian tell how he fought his old 
brigade. He stood ' like a stone wall ' — as stern, stubborn, 
and immovable. At Kernstown, Ts^hen a portion of his line 
gave back before the overwhelming numbers assailing it, he 
took his stand close to the enemy, amid a storm of bullets — 
called to a drummer-boy — and placing his hand firmly upon 
the boy's shoulder, said, in his brief, curt tones : ^Beat the 
rally ! ' The rally was beaten ; Jackson remained by the 
drummer's side, holding him to his work with the inexor- 
able hand upon the shoulder — the rally continued to roll, 
and the line was speedily re-formed." 



238 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Another incident in this connection is related by one of 
Jackson's intimate acquaintances. He says : 

" In the midst of the terrible cannonade at the battle of 
Fredericksburgh, when I counted the number of shot and 
shell, during fifteen minutes, that fell Avithin a hundred 
yards of the position that he and I occupied, and estimated 
them at five hundred during the action^ he was seen calmly 
sitting on his horse with his hand raised, as if in prayer." 

During the few months which separated the battle of 
Fredericksburgh from that of Chancellorsville, General 
Jackson was situated with his troops in winter-quarters 
at a place called Moss Neck, some ten miles below Fred- 
ericksburgh. He employed himself during these moments 
of leisure in preparing the official reports of his battles. 
Of the mode of their preparation we quote the following 
from the pen of a partisan, as it illustrates Jackson's ex- 
treme love of truth : 

" The embodiment of the facts, as given in the reports 
of officers engaged, w^as intrusted to Lieutenant-Colonel 
Faulkner, A. A. G., but General Jackson carefully revised 
and corrected the statements before his official signature 
was appended. He was exceedingly careful not to have 
any thing placed thus upon formal record Avhich was not 
established by irrefutable proof. Truth was with him 
the jewel beyond all price, and nothing discomposed him 
more than the bare sus23icion that accuracy was sacrificed 
to effisct. He disliked all glowing adjectives in the nar- 
ratives of his battles; and presented to the members of 



THE SOLDIER AXD THE MAN. 289 

his staff and all around him, a noble example of modesty 
and love of truth. He seemed, indeed, to have a horror 
of any thing like ostentation, boasting, or self-laudation, 
expressed or implied. Kothing was more disagreeable to 
him than the excessive praises which reached his ears 
through the newspapers of the day ; and he shrunk from 
the attempts made to elevate him above his brother com- 
manders with a repugnance which was obvious to every 
one. Plis dislike for all popular ovations was extreme. 
He did not wish his portrait to be taken, or his actions 
to be made the subject of laudatory comment in the jour- 
nals of the day. When the publishers of an illustrated 
periodical wrote to him requesting his daguerreotype and 
some notes of his battles for an engraving and a bio- 
graphical sketch, he wrote in rej^ly that he had no picture 
of himself and had never done any thing. 

" So carefully did he guard all the statements in his re- 
ports from error, and such was the rigid censorship which 
he established in relation to the most minute portions of 
these narratives, that the official reports revised and signed 
by him, may be relied upon as the very quintessence of 
truth, and historians may quote them through all coming 
time, as tlie sworn statements of a man who would have 
laid down his very life before he would have attached his 
name to Avhat was partial, nnfair, or aught but the simple, 
absolute truth." 

It has been pretty generally stated that Jackson was 
more fitted to carry into efiect the plans of others than to 



240 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

direct the movements of a large army. It is true that 
whilst he was a co-laborer with General Lee, his executive 
abilities were severely tested, and were not found wanting ; 
but the directing power which he displayed in the Valley 
campaign was equally prominent and proved equally suc- 
cessful. General Joseph Johnston, in conversation with 
an English oflBcer, gave it as his opinion that Jackson 
"did not possess any great qualifications as a strategist, 
and was, perhaps, unfit for the independent command of 
a large army ; yet he was gifted with wonderful courage 
and determination, and had a perfect faith in Providence 
that he was destined to destroy his enemy. He was much 
indebted to General Ewell in the Valley campaigns." 
Johnston also said that Jackson was most fortunate in com- 
manding the flower of the Virginian troops, and in being 
opposed by some of the most incapable Federal com- 
manders. 

Generals Lee and Jackson met for the first time in the 
war at the commencement of the seven days' contest near 
Richmond. They had an oppoi*tunity during that contest 
of seeing each other at work; and there sprung up at once 
between them that profound respect, confidence, and re- 
gard which thenceforth knew no diminution, no shadow ot 
turning. Jackson said of Lee : " He is a phenomenon. I 
would follow him blindfolded." When Jackson was struck 
down by the fatal bullet, General Lee, who knew his in- 
comparable value more than all othei* men, exclaimed, with 



THE SOLDIER AND THE MAN. 241 

tears in his eyes : " He is better off than I am. He lost his 
left arm, but I have lost my right !" 

Jackson's estimate of General Lee is further exhibited in 
the following : 

" The love and admiration he at all times evinced for Lee 
resembled the devotion with which Turner Ashby had fol- 
lowed him. Replying to the remarks of a friend about his 
own peculiar military ideas and habits, and his proneness 
' to do his marching and fighting his own way,' he said : 
' We are blessed with at least one General Avhom I would 
cheerfully follow blindfold, whose most dubious strategy 
I would execute without question or hesitation, and that 
General is Robert E. Lee.' The anecdote is authentic. 
But Jackson had the sagacity to perceive very early that 
his military genius was essentially local and partisan — that 
it was as an executive officer exclusively that he was re- 
markable — and that kaleidoscopic conceptions and subtle 
combinations must be left to the Lees and Johnstons of the 
Rebel army." 

Speaking of Jackson as " the great controlling mind," 
the " sledge-hammer of the war," a Federal officer declared : 
" Every time we have been beaten it has been his doing, 
and that of no one else. The first time I saw his face, my 
heart sank within me." " His moral brain is grand," said 
another. " He appears to act under a solemn sense of ob- 
ligation to his Maker, who, he believed, had appointed him 
his work." 

ThQ critics began in time to understand that war reveal- 
11 



242 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

ed men ; falsifying all estimates previously made of them in 
the quiet days of paace. Jackson had been regarded as 
a commonplace, somewhat eccentric " professor," who, by 
some singular chance, at an early period in his life, had 
blundered into the arena of arms. A command w^as in- 
trusted to him by those who knew him better, and the 
result is before the world. 

" How does lie look ?" is invariably asked of every popu- 
lar favorite. We must, therefore, not fail to impart to our 
readers some ^particulars of General Jackson's personal ap- 
pearance. This we give in the words of a Confederate offi- 
cer who first saw him shortly after the battle of Port Re- 
public : 

" The outward appearance of the famous leader Avas not 
imposing. The popular idea of a great general is an indi- 
vidual of stiff and stately bearing, clad in splendid costume, 
all covered with gold lace and decorations, who prances by 
upon a mettled charger, and moves on, before admiring 
crowds, accompanied by his glittering staff, and grand in 
all the magnificence of high command. The figure of Gen- 
eral Stonewall Jackson was singularly different from this 
popular fancy. He wore an old sun-embrowned coat of 
gray cloth, originally a very plain one, and now almost 
out at elbows. To call it sun-embrowned, however, is 
scarcely to convey an adequate idea of the extent of its 
discoloration. It had that dingy hue, the result of expo- 
sure to rain and snow and scorching sunshine, which is so 
unmistakable. It was plain that the General had often 



THE SOLDIER AND THE MAN. 243 

stretched Lis weary form upon the bare ground, and slept 
in the oki coat ; and it seemed to have brought away Avith 
it no little of the dust of the Valley. A holiday soldier 
would have disdained to wear such a garb ; but the men 
of the Old Stonewall Brigade, with their brave comrades 
of the corps, loved that coat, and admired it and its owner 
more than all the holiday uniforms and holiday warriors 
in the world. The remainder of the General's costume was 
as much discolored as the coat — he wore cavalry boots 
reaching to the knee, and his head was surmounted by an 
old caj^, more faded than all : the sun had turned it quite 
yelloAV indeed, and it tilted forward so far over the wearer's 
forehead, that he was compelled to raise his chin in the air, 
in order to look under the rim. His horse was not a 'fiery 
steed ' pawing, and ready to dart forward at ' the thunder 
of the captains and the shouting,' but an old raw-boned 
sorrel, gaunt and grim — a horse of astonishing equanimity, 
who seemed to give himself no concern on any subject, and 
calmly moved about, like his master, careless of cannon-ball 
or bullet, in the hottest moments of battle. 

" The General rode in a peculiar fashion, leaning forward 
somewhat, and aj)parently unconscious that he was in the 
saddle. His air was singularly abstracted ; and, unless 
aware of his identity, no beholder would have dreamed that 
this plainly clad and absent-looking soldier was the idolized 
leader of a great army corps, at that very instant hurling 
themselves, column after column, upon the foe. 

" The glittering eye beneath the yellow cap would have 



24^i STONEWALL JACKSON. 

altered somewhat the impression that this man was a * no- 
body' — that wonderful eye, in whose blaze was the evi- 
dt'nce of a slumbering volcano beneath ; but beyond this, 
there was absolutely nothing in the appearance of General 
Jackson to indicate his great rank or genius as a soldier." 

A different estimate, however, of the peculiarities of ex- 
pression which indicate the warrior is given by another 
gentleman, who is stated to be a rare and quick judge of 
character. When asked for a description of Jackson, whom 
he had met but for a few moments on the battle-field, he 
replied: "He is a fighting man, rough mouth, iron jaw, 
and nostrils big as a horse's." This description has doubt- 
less much force in it, although blunt and homely in its ex- 
pression. 

Another picture of our hero is given by the correspond- 
ent of a Southern journal. He says : 

" There you see self-command, perseverance, indomitable 
will, that seem neither to know nor think of any earthly ob- 
stacle, and all this without the least admixture of vanity, 
assumption, pride, foolhardiness, or any thing of the kind. 
There seems a disposition to assert it pretensions, but from 
the quiet sense of conviction of his relative position, wdiich 
sets the vexed question of self-importance at rest — a pecu- 
liarity, I would remark, of great minds. It is only the 
little and frivolous who are forever obtruding their petty 
vanities before the world. His fjxce also expresses courage 
in the highest degree, and his phrenological developments 
indicate a vast amount of energy and activity. His forehead 



THE SOLDIER AND THE MAN. 245 

is broad and prominent, the occipital and sincipital regions 
are botli large and well balanced ; eyes expressing a sin- 
gular union of mildness, energy, and concentration ; cheek 
and nose both long and well formed. His dress is a com- 
mon gray suit of faded cassimere — coat, pants, and hat — 
the coat slightly braided on the sleeve, just enough to be 
jDerceptible, the collar displaying the mark of a Major-Gen 
eral. Of his gait, it is sufficient to say that he just goes 
along — not a particle of the strut, the military swagger, 
turkey-gobbler parade, so common among officers of small 
rank and smaller minds. It would be a profitable study 
for some of our military swells to devote one hour each 
day to the contemplation of the magnificent plainness of 
* Stonewall.' To military fame which they can never hope 
to attain he unites the simplicity of a child and the straight- 
forwardness of a Western farmer. There may be those 
wlio would be less struck with his appearance as thus ac- 
coutred than if bedizened with lace and holding the reins 
of a magnificent barb caparisoned and harnessed for glo- 
rious war ; but to one who had seen him, as I had, at Coal 
Harbor and Malvern Hill, in the rain of shell and the blaze 
of the death-lights of the battle-field, when nothing less 
than a mountain would serve as a breastwork against the 
thirty-six inch shells which howled and shrieked through 
the sickly air. General Jackson in tatters would be the 
same hero as General Jackson in gilded uniform. In my 
Bimple view he is a nonpareil — he is without a peer. He 
has enough energy to supply a whole manufacturing dis- 



24:6 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

trict, enough military genius to stock two or three military 
schools of the size of West-Point." 

The Hon. F. Lawley, special correspondent of the Lon- 
don Times with the Southern army, portrays the great Con- 
federate general in the following terms : 

" The interest excited by this strange man is as curious 
as it is unprecedented. A classmate of McClellan at West- 
Point, and there considered slow and heavy, unfavorably 
known in Washington as a hypochondriac and malade im- 
aginaire^ he has exhibited for the last ten months qualities 
Avhich were little supposed to reside in his rugged and un- 
soldierlike frame, but which will hand his name down for 
many a generation in the company of those great captains 
whom men will not willingly let die. More apt for the ex- 
ecution than conception of great movements, leaning upon 
General Lee as the directing brain, and furnishing the 
promptest hand, the most dauntless heart, the most ascetic 
and rigorous self-denial, the greatest rapidity and versa- 
tility of movement, as his contributions towards the execu- 
tion of General Lee's strategy, his recent operations in turn- 
ing General Pope's right, and passing with a force believed 
not to exceed thirty thousand men to the rear of such an 
army, massed close to its base of operations, and in the act 
of receiving daily large reenforcements, command universal 
wonder and admiration. It is said that, like Hannibal, he 
is accustomed to live among his men without distinction of 
dress, without greater delicacy of fore, and that it is almost 
impossible, on this account, for a stranger to recognize or 



THE SOLDIER AND THE MAN". 247 

distinguish liini among tliem. Every despatch from his 
hand has, as its exordium : ' By the blessing of God.' Con- 
tinual are the prayer-meetings which he holds among his 
men, invoking a blessing upon his arms before the battle 
and returning thanks for preservation, and (as it has rarely 
failed to happen) for victory after it is over. In fact, they 
who have seen and heard him uplift his voice in prayer, and 
then have witnessed his vigor and prompt energy in the 
strife, say that once again Cromwell is walking the earth 
and leading his trusting and enraptured hosts to assured 
victory. It is not necessary to add that Jackson's men 
idolize and trust their leader enthusiastically, and have the 
most implicit faith in his conduct, otherwise the bold and 
daring steps which he has frequently taken, and from which 
he has never failed to come off tiiumphantly, would have 
been utter impossibilities." 

In this connection, the Saturday Memeio (London) says ; 

" General Jackson's powers of endurance were certainly 
equalled by his dash and daring. Loss than two years fill 
U13 his public life, and not much more than twelve months 
complete the cycle of his leading victories ; but he com- 
pressed into the narrow space of two campaigns as many 
triumphs as have distinguished the long military life of sev- 
eral famous captains. Although not the general-in-chief of 
an army, not a few of his successes were won in an inde- 
pendent command, and as many as six great victories are 
attributed to Jackson. . . . His religion, though it may 
not be our religion, was not inconsistent with charity, gen- 



248 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

tleness, and courtesy ; and the victorious general wlio is a 
high-minded gentleman, a consistent Christian, and whose 
l^opularity is universal among his men, is not, after all, a 
very common character. The military profession wants such 
bright and rare reliefs ; and we will venture to say that 
throughout England, and even among the better spirits of 
the Federals, there is a general share in that 'deep grief 
with which the South may well mourn the death of Lieu- 
tenant-General Jackson. There is something of a national 
sympathy with those simple and touching words with which 
General Lee records ' the daring, skill, and energy of this 
great and good soldier,' and asks his comrades, ' while they 
mourn his death, to feel that his spirit lives, and will inspire 
the whole army with his indomitable courage and unshaken 
confidence in God as their hope and strength.' " 

The New- York Independent criticises Jackson's character 
and career from a Northern stand-point, as follows : 

" We are in some respects better judges of his military 
talents than Southern men, since Ave felt the blows which 
they only saw dealt. It is certain that no other man has 
impressed the imagination of our soldiers and the whole 
community so much as he. An unknown name at the begin- 
ning of the war, save to his brother officers, and to his 
classes in the military school at Lexington, Virginia, his 
footsteps were earliest in the field from which now death | 
has withdrawn them. But in two years he has made his 
name familiar in every civilized land on the globe as a 
general of rare skill, resource, and energy. 



THE SOLDIER AND THE MAN. 249 

"No other general of the South could develop so much 
power out of slender and precarious means, by the fervid 
inspiration of his own mind, as Jackson. He had absolute 
control of his men, seeming almost to fascinate them. He 
drove them through marches long and difficult, without re- 
sources, feeding them as best he could ; he delivered battles 
as a thunder-cloud discharged bolts, and, if the fortunes 
were against him, then, with even more remarkable skill 
than in advancing, he held his men together in retreat ; 
and with extraordinary address and courage eluded pursuit, 
sometimes fighting, sometimes fleeing, till he brought off 
his forces safely. Then, almost before the dust was laid 
upon the war-path, his face was again toward his enemies, 
and he was ready for renewed conflict. His whole soul was 
in his work. He had no doubts nor parleyings within him- 
self. He put the w^hole force of his being into his blows for 
the worst cause man ever fought for, as few of our generals 
have ever learned to do for the best cause for which trum- 
pet ever sounded. Henceforth we know him no more after 
the flesh. He is no longer a foe. We think of him now as 
a noble-minded gentleman, a rare and eminent Christian ! 
For years he has been an active member of the Presbyte- 
rian Church, of which he was a ruling elder. He never, in 
all the occupations of the camp, or temptation of campaigns, 
lost the fervor of his piety, or remitted his Christian duties. 

" We know that before every important move he spent 
much time in prayer. He had so put his soul in the keep- 
ing of his Master, that he was relieved from all thought of 
11* 



250 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

self, and had the whole power of his life ready for his work. 
Officers of Fremont's army, who pursued him in his famous 
retreat from the Shenandoah Valley, found him to be great- 
ly beloved by the common people, among whom, in former 
times, he had labored, m prayer-meetings, in temperance 
meetings, and in every Christian word and work. No won- 
der he fought well along a region whose topography he had 
mapped down with prayers, exhortations, and Christian 
labor ! 

" He was unselfish. He fought neither for reputation 
now, nor for future personal advancement. . . . He in- 
cessantly struck on the right and on the left, and kept alive 
the fire in the hearts of ill-clad, poorly-fed, and over-worked 
men by the excitement of enterprise and the constant relish 
of victories, small in detail, but whose sum was all-import- 
ant. Let no man suppose that the North will triumph over 
a fallen son with insulting gratulations ! Nowhere else will 
the name of Jackson be more honored." 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE CHEISTIAN HERO. 



Jackson's Religious Habits — Returns Public Thanks to God for Yictory— 
Seeks Guidance in Prayer — His Missionary Spirit — Services before the 
" Stonewall Brigade " — Secret Prayer — Religious Condition of Jackson's 
Army — A Revival among the Soldiers — Letter of General Jackson on 
Sabbath Mails and Despatches — Dying Exclamations. 

In the previous chapter, and incidentally in the body of 
our narrative, allusions have been made to the religious 
spirit which influenced General Jackson's every action. In 
his official reports he attributed every victory which he 
gained to the blessing of God ; and at the termination of 
an engagement, he assembled his troops to render thanks to 
God for the victory they had achieved, and to implore his 
continual favor in the future. An example of the latter will 
be found in the following extract from a letter of a South- 
ern correspondent, written shortly after the battle of 
McDowell : 

"A significant illustration of the elevated virtues and 
principles which governed Jackson's public acts was given 
on Monday last, three miles north of Franklin, in Pendle- 
ton county. On the morning of that day, he addressed his 



252 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

troops in a few terse and pointed remarks, thanking them 
for the courage, endurance, and soldierly conduct displayed 
at the battle of McDowell, on Thursday, the eighth instant, 
and closed by appointing ten o'clock of that day, as an 
occasion of prayer and thanksgiving throughout the army, 
for the victory which followed that bloody engagement. 
There, in the beautiful little valley of the South Branch, 
with the blue and towering mountains covered with the 
verdure of spring, the green sward smiling a welcome to 
the season of flowers, and the bright sun, unclouded, lend- 
ing a genial refreshing warmth, that army, equipped for the 
stern conflict of war, bent in humble praise and thanksgiv- 
ing to the God of battles for the success vouchsafed to our 
arms in the recent sanguinary encounter of the two armies. 
While this solemn ceremony was progressing in every regi- 
ment, the minds of the soldiery drawn off from the bayonet 
and sabre, the enemy's artillery was occasionally belching 
forth its leaden death, yet all unmoved stood that worship- 
ping army, acknowledging the supremacy of the will of 
Him who controls the destinies of men and nations, and 
chooses the weaker things of earth to confound the 
mighty." 

The Reverend Moses Hoge, D.D., pastor of one of the 
principal churches in Richmond, Virginia, and one of Jack- 
son's personal friends, speaks of him in the following 
terms : 

" No pressure of military duties caused him to ne- 
glect the necessary offices of religion. Prayer was mingled 



THE CHRISTIAN HERO. 253 

with all his plans and acts. A distinguished officer, who 
ascribes his own religious impressions to his association 
with General Jackson, told me that on one occasion he went 
with a comrade to the General's tent to consult him about 
the plan of a battle, soon to be fought. After some inter- 
change of views, the officer said : ' General, what is your 
decision ? ' ' Call to-morrow morning,' was the reply, ' and I 
will inform you.' On leaving the tent, his comrade said to 
the officer : * Do you know why the General said he would 
give his decision to-morrow ? ' ' No ; I suppose he wants 
to think it over,' was the answer. ' Not exactly that,' re- 
joined the other, ' he wants to pray it over.' In about half 
an hour the officer had occasion to return to the tent, on 
some other errand, and on thoughtlessly entering, without 
being announced, was struck with awe at seeing the General 
on his knees engaged in prayer." 

" This was the man," continues the narrator, " w^ho knew 
how to stand up like a stone wall against the enemies of 
his country, bowing humbly before his God, begging his 
guidance and powerful aid." 

In writing of the missionary spirit displayed by Jackson, 
Dr. Hoge assures us that — 

" In every possible way he labored to elevate the moral 
and spiritual character of the soldiers. He gave to chap- 
lains, to colporteurs, and to the clergymen who occasionally 
visited his camp, all the encouragement and cooperation in 
his power. When the Holy Sacrament was administered, 
he assisted in the distribution of the elements. And when 



254: STONEWALL JACKSON. 

revivals of religion occurred among the troops under his 
command, he rejoiced with a joy which even victory did 
not inspire. In the last conversation I ever had with him, 
he said he intended to make every effort to increase the 
number and efficiency of chaplains in the army. 

" When he suddenly came in view of a body of troops, 
and the men began to cheer, as they always did when they 
caught sight of him, he would spur his horse into a rapid 
gallop, as if anxious to escape the clamorous homage so 
joyously accorded to him.'* 

An extract from another private letter which farther 
illustrates Jackson's devout character has been permitted 
to be published. It is addressed to Dr. Hoge by his bro- 
ther, who says : 

" I have just returned from a visit to General Jackson's 

headquarters, at Moss Neck, the grand mansion of Mr. , 

sOme ten miles from Fredericksburgh. The General mod- 
e^ly occupies the lower room of one of the offices in the 
yard. As soon as I arrived, General Jackson claimed me 
as his guest, and I gladly spent what time I could with 

him. I found Mr. regularly ensconced in his office, as 

a sort of chaplain-general, not officially, of course, but vir- 
tually. His work is partly to increase the number of 
chaplains, placing them where most needed, and partly to 
preach himself wherever there is need of it in the corps. 
His position is very important, and his residence with Gen- 
eral Jackson not only furthers his influence, but is person- 
ally profitable to him. Indeed, it seems hardly possible to 



THE CHRISTIAN HERO. 255 

be long in the society of that noble and honored general, 
that simple-hearted, straightforward, laborious man of God, 
without catching something of his spirit — the spirit of toil, 
of patience, of modesty, of careful conscientiousness, of 
child-like dependence on God, of fervent, believing prayer. 
While in camp I preached five times in the StoncAvall Bri- 
gade. How the men crowded into their log church, how 
they listened, how they seemed to hang upon the word, 
you, of all men, need least to be told, for you have seen so 
much of them from the beginning of the war. On Sunday 

night, after preaching, the General, Mr. , and myself 

had a long talk, as we sat drying our boots in front of the 
open fire. "When it was near eleven o'clock, the General 
asked me to conduct worship ; and afterward, before retir- 
ing, he set us the example of kneeling again for secret 
prayer. He then shared his bed upon the floor with me, 
and we talked till long after midnight. Though usually 
taciturn, he led the conversation. How anxious he was for 
his army ! how anxious for himself ! How manifest it was 
that he is a man whose great desire is to be right in all 
things, and especially to be right before God ! In our 
whole intercourse I could not detect the slightest trace of 
self-importance, ostentation, or seeking after vainglory. To 
glorify God possessed all his thoughts. ' I have been think- 
ing a great deal about our chief end lately,' said he, ' and I 
believe the first answer in our catechism tells us it is to glo- 
rify God, and to enjoy him for ever ; and I think,' he added, 
* we need not trouble ourselves much about the second part, 



256 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

if we only attend well to the first. I find my life in camp 
a very happy one when I am enabled to keep this aim 
steadily before me — to live for the glory of God.' I found 
him very earnest also in his views as to our duties to the 
negroes. He used to teach a Sunday-school for colored 
children in Lexington, and all the pressure of his great 
duties and cares does not divert his thoughts from the 
spiritual interests of our servants." 

Another illustration of the religious condition of Jack- 
son's troops is given in the following extract from a letter 
written by the Kev. Dr. Stiles, who was, at the time of 
writing, laboring as an evangelist in the Confederate army 
of the Potomac ; 

" At his earnest request, I preached to General Pryor's 
brigade last Sabbath. Upon one hour's notice he marched 
up twelve or fifteen hundred men, who listened with so 
much interest to a long sermon, that I was not surprised to 
hear of such a beginning of religious interest in various 
regiments of the brigade as issued in a half-way promise on 
my part to fall in with the proposal of the General to preach 
very early to his soldiers for a succession of nights. In 
General's Lawton's brigade there is a more decided state of 
religious excitement. The great body of the soldiers in 
some of the regiments meet for prayer and exhortation 
every night, exhibit the deepest solemnity, and present 
themselves numerously for the prayers of the chaplains and 
the Church. Quite a pleasant number express hope in Christ. 
In all other portions of General Early's division, (formerly 
General Ewell's,) a similar religious sensibility prevails. 



THE CHRISTIAN HERO. 257 

*' In General Trimble's, and the immediately neighboring 
brigades, there is in progress, at this hour, one of the most 
glorious revivals I ever witnessed. Some days ago a young 
chaplain of the Baptist Church — as a representative of 
three others of the same denomination — took a long ride to 
solicit my cooperation, stating that a promising seriousness 
had sprung up within their diocese. I have now been with 
him three days and nights, preaching and hiboring con- 
stantly with the soldiers when not on drill. The audiences 
and the interest have grown to glorious dimensions. It 
would rejoice you over-deeply to glance for one instant on 
our night-meeting in the wild woods, under a full moon, 
aided by the light of our side-stands. You would behold a 
mass of men seated on the earth all around you, (I was go- 
ing to say for the space of half an acre,) fringed in all its 
circumference by a, line of standing officers and soldiers, two 
or three deep, all exhibiting the most solemn and respectful 
earnestness that an assembly ever displayed. An officer 
said to me, last night, on returning from worship, he never 
had witnessed such a scene, though a Presbyterian elder, 
especially such an abiding solemnity and delight in the ser- 
vices as prevented all whispering in the outskirts, leaving 
of the congregation, or restless change of position. I sup- 
pose, at the close of the services, we had some sixty or 
seventy men and officers come forward and publicly solicit 
an interest in our prayers, and there may have been as many 
more Avho from the press could not reacli the stand. I have 
ah'oady conversed with quite a number, who seem to give 



258 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

pleasant evidence of a return to God, and all things seem 
to be rapidly developing for the best. 

" The officers, especially Generals Jackson and Early, have 
modiiied military rules for our accommodation. I have just 
learned that General A. P. Hill's division enjoys as ricli a 
dispensation of God's Spirit as General Early's. Ask all the 
brethren and sisters to pray for us and the army at large." 

The following letter, written by General Jackson three 
days before the battle of Fredericksburgh, is here given, as 
it so plainly corroborates the previous assertions : 

To Colonel A. B. BoteUr^ Memher of the Confederate 
Congress. 
. . . " I have read with great interest the report of 
the Congressional Committee, recommending the repeal of 
the law requiring the mails to be carried on the Sabbath, 
and hope you will feel it a duty, as well as a pleasure, to 
urge its repeal. I do not see how a nation that thus arrays 
itself, by such a law, against God's holy day, can expect to 
escape his wrath. The punishment of national sins must 
be confined to this world, as there is no nationality beyond 
the grave. For fifteen years I have refused to mail lettere 
on Sunday, or take them out of the office on that day, ex- 
cept since I came into the field. And so far from having to 
regret my course, it has been a source of true enjoyment. I 
have never sustained loss in observing what God enjoins, 
and I am well satisfied that the law should be repealed at 
the earliest practicable moment. My rule is to let the Sab- 
bath mail remain unopened until Monday, unless it contains 
a despatch, but despatches are generally sent by couriers, or 



THE CHRISTIAN" HERO. 259 

telegraph or some other special method. I do not recol- 
lect a single instance of any pressing despatch having 
reached me since the commencement of the war through 
the mail. . . . 

" If you desire the repeal of the laAV, I trust you will 
bring all your influence to bear upon its accomplishment. 
ISTow is the time, it appears to me, to effect so desirable an 
object. I understand that not only our President, but also 
most of our colonels, and a majority of our congressmen are 
professing Christians. God has greatly blessed us, and I 
trust that he will make us ' that people whose God is the 
Lord.' Let us look to God for an illustration in our liistory 
that ' Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach 
to any people.' . . . 

" Very truly, your friend, 

" T. J. Jackson." 

Living and dying, a strong religious sentiment ever per- 
vaded Jackson's thoughts. " My trust is in God," said he 
to one of liis aids, with whom, a night or two before Clian- 
cellorsville, he had been discussing the probability and issue 
of a battle. He talked over the matter fully, became unusu- 
ally excited, then paused, and with deep humility and rev- 
erence uttered the words which we have quoted. He 
immediately after displayed that remarkable energy which 
seemed to be so closely connected with his devotional spirit. 
As if the sound of battle was in his ear, he raised himself 
to his tallest stature, and with flashing eyes, and a face all 
blazoned with the fire of the conflict, he exclaimed : " I 
wish they would come." When Lee wrote to him condol- 



260 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

ing with him for his accident, on hearing the note read, 
Jackson exclaimed to his attendants : " General Lee should 
give the glory to God." It was an expression of his mod- 
esty and his reverence. 

A religious friend and companion of Jackson's remarks 
that the General, during his dying moments, endeavored to 
cheer those who were around him. Noticing the sadness 
of his beloved wife, he said to her tenderly : " I know you 
would gladly give your life for me, but I am perfectly 
resigned. Do not be sad — I hope I shall recover. Pray 
for me, but always remember in your prayer to use the J' 
petition. Thy will be done." Those who were present 
noticed a remarkable development of tenderness in his 
manner and feelings during his illness, that was a beautiful 
mellowing of that iron sternness and imperturbable calm that 
characterized him in his military operations. Advising his 
wife, in the event of his death, to return to her father's 
house, he remarked : " You have a kind and good father ; 
but there is no one so kind and good as your heavenly Fa- 
ther." When she told him that the doctors did not think 
he could live two hours, although he did not himself expect 
to die, he replied : *' It will be infinite gain to be translated 
to heaven, and be with Jesus." He then said he had much 
to say to her, but was too weak. 

Jackson had always desired to die, if it were God's will, 
on the Sabbath. God granted him that wish. He seemed 
to greet the light of the day on which he breathed his last 
with peculiar pleasure, and exclaimed with evident delight : 
" It is the Lord's day " 



CHAPTER XVI. 

INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. 

Jackson's Peculiarities subject him to Caricature — Military Discipline at 
Lexington — War Means Fighting — Secrecy — Going to the Commissary — 
An Inquisitive Friend — A Ruse — Coolness — Sambo's Prisoner — An 
Irish Rebel — A Watery Wish — Daily Work — Abhorrence of Sectional 
Hate — Double Rations — " Old Jackson always Moving " — Poking about 
. — Crossing the Potomac — Surrounded — ^An Incentive to Victory — The 
Observed of all Observers — " No Great Shakes, after all " — ^A Federd 
Captain's Opinion — An Equestrian Compliment — ^Experiences on Horse- 
back — " Jackson Resigned " — Headquarters and their Attractions — ^Play- 
ing with Children — ^Visit to Jackson in Camp. 

Ajiong the numerous anecdotes which have been related 
of our hero, there are many that are well worth preserving. 
These, together with the particulars of several incidents 
in his career, which if inserted in the body of our work 
would have somewhat interfered with the line of narrative, 
are collected into this chapter : 

Before the outbreak of the Rebellion, Jackson was almost 
unknown beyond the limits of Lexington. In the Institute 
he was as much a soldier as he had been before, or proved 
himself to be after, his professional career. He was then as 
strict iu the performance of duty, and as exact in regard to 



262 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

others as if he were in the field. It is stated of him that 
"he was scarcely known beyond the walls of the Institute in 
which he continued to perform his official duties with military 
regularity, and if the outer world heard of him at all, it was 
only through jests or witticisms directed against his pecu- 
liarities of character and demeanor by some of the students 
who, with the love of fun proverbial in their class, had 
much to say of the eccentricities and odd ways of 'Old 
Tom Jackson.' The universal tendency to caricature the 
peculiarities of a man of original genius is well known — to 
make fun of those very great traits which separate such 
men from the commonplace mass of human beings — and 
Jackson received more than a fair share of this undesirable 
attention on the part of his students. He was a martinet 
in the performance of his duties — administered things in his 
department ' on a war footing,' and no doubt caused the 
volatile young men whom he taught, to regard him a most 
mireasonable and exacting stickler for useless military eti- 
quette and ceremony. But he was conscientious in this 
extreme attention to little things, and he was clearly right. 
The Institute was a military school — its chief value con- 
sisted in the habits of military obedience which it impressed 
upon the ductile characters of the youth of the Common- 
v/ealth — and Jackson no doubt regarded any relaxation of 
the rules of the establishment as tending directly to strike 
at the intentions of its founders, and destroy its usefulness. 
We have heard that he once continued to wear a thick 
woollen uniform late in the summer, and when asked by 



INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. 263 

one of tlie professors why he did so, replied that he had 
seen an order prescribing that dress, but none had been ex- 
hibited to him directing it to be changed. Tliis was the 
source of some amusement to the young gentlemen who had 
no idea of military ' orders,' and the implicit obedience 
which a good soldier considers it his bounden duty to pay 
to them." 

At one time the Richmond newspapers, which had shown 
the most eagerness for the " aggressive action " of the Con- 
federate Government, filled their columns with anecdotes of 
Jackson ; and the Whig became extremely facetious in sat- 
irizing what it chose to term the " slow movements of the 
Government." There was a long advertisement from a 
supposed superintendent of a lunatic asylum, ofiering a 
liberal reward for the capture of " one calling himself 
Thomas J. Jackson, who was attempting to make his way to 
Washington ; the entire efforts of the United States and the 
Confederate authorities having failed to arrest him," . . . 
and that if he were not " stopped without delay, he would 
succeed in establishing the independence of the Southern 
Confederacy; as he had evidently taken it into his head that 
war meant fighting." 

It was about this time that the hero himself became some- 
what irascible, and sent the following terse telegram to the 
War Department at Richmond : " Send me more men, and 
fewer questions." 

Jackson's words, " Mystery, mystery is the secret of suc- 
cess ! " have already been quoted. The author of JBattle- 



264 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

Melds of the South, who took part in Jackson's campaign 
against Pope, says : 

*' Secrecy lias been the characteristic of all our move- 
ments ; civilians are seldom allowed admission to onr camps 
under any pretence ; strong guards always encircle our 
lines, so that it is almost an impossibility to gain entrance. 
Thus, until the latest moment, none know the destination of 
troops, or the object in view, and even the brigadiers are 
frequently no better informed than the humblest patriot in 
the ranks. If this is true of movements generally, it is 
peculiarly so in regard to the rapid marches of ' Stonewall ;' 
for a person might as reasonably ' whistle jigs to a mile- 
Btone' as attempt to glean information from the sharp-eyed, 
tart, sarcastic, crabbed-spoken Jackson. When his corps 
received orders to move, some imagined merely * a change 
of camps,' or some such indifferent movement ; yet when 
Richmond Avas left far to the south, and the column pro- 
ceeded rapidly in a north-western direction, many old cam- 
paigners began to whistle ominously, and with a mysterious 
wink in the direction of the Shenandoah Valley, would sar- 
castically observe, ' Lee's short of rations again ! Jackson's 
detailed to go to the commissary ! ' in allusion to the im- 
mense supplies more than once captured by Jackson from 
the unfortunate Banks." 

Another illustration of Jackson's reticence is here given : 

" He firmly declined the luxury of ^lospitable mansions ' 

along the line of his march ; nor, after his occupation of 

Winchester, could he, without much difiiculty, be induced to 



INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. 265 

pass a night in the house of any old friend in Frederick, 
Clarke, or Jefferson. He preferred to sleep among his men. 
It Avas one of these valley friends of his who miscarried so 
absurdly in an attempt to cajole him out of his imperturba- 
ble reticence. The gentleman, at whose house Jackson had 
been induced to make a brief visit in passing, was eagerly 
curious to learn what the next movement of the ubiquitous 
rebel would be ; so he boldly claimed his confidence on the 
score of ancient friendship. After a few minutes of well- 
affected concern and reflection, the grim joker button-holed 
his bore. ' My staunch old friend,' said he, with mysterious 
deliberation, ' can — you — keep — a secret ? ' ' Ah ! General.' 
'So can I.'" 

Some of the incidents of the Valley campaign are ex- 
tremely amusing. We will give a few examples. The 
first relates to the coolness of the commander. 

"In one of his late flights, 'Old Stonewall ' got into a 
tight place. He found himself surrounded, with only one 
way of escape, which was over a bridge raked by a bat- 
tery of the Federals. The old hero saw, in a moment, his 
strait. With his cape over his uniform, he rode up to the 
battery, and said, *Boys, you have this battery in the 
wrong place ; move it to that eminence,' pointing to a hill a 
short distance up. ' Limber up and be in a hurry.' The 
order was obeyed, and, as the artillery was taking the new 
position, ' StonewalV rode safely across the bridge. 



55* 



* Another version of the story is this : 

"Jackson, finding that this gun commanded the bridge which it was 
12 



266 „ STONEWALL JACKSON. 

!N'ext we have an account of the manner in which a 
" contraband " treated a " Yankee :" 

" A negro entered the quartermaster's office in Staunton, 
tipped his wool, and said : 

" ' Mar's 'Arman — ^here a prisoner.' 

" ' Where did you get him ? ' 

" ' Massa sent him, and tole me to see him shot up safe, 
and de key turned on him.' 

" ' Well, Sambo — as you have brought him safely so far 
—take him over to the jail and see him locked up.' 

" ' Thank'e Massa — come along, Yankee ;' and he proudly 
marched off his prisoner to the jail." 

An Irish Rebel's wit sparkles forth in the following: 

" What army do you belong to, Pat ? " inquired a gentle- 
man of a son of Erin. 

" Faith, thin," replied Pat, " it's meself that's a part of 
the ould jStonewsdly and be jabers ! ivery man in that same 
is a brick^ shure." 

Here is the opinion of a native Virginian. On the re- 
necessary for him to pass, for once in his life played the Yankee, and riding 
briskly forward, stood erect in his stirrups, exclaiming, * Bring that gun 
over here,' designating the place. The ruse succeeded. The Yankee cap- 
tain limbered up and commenced moving his piece, when Old Stonewall, 
putting spurs to his horse, dashed across the bridge. The Yankee discover- 
ed the ruse, and let fly with his gun, but it was too late. It was not in the 
book of fate that the glorious chieftain should fall in that way. The Fede- 
ral soldier in charge of the gun was a Captain Robinson, who, on relating 
the incident, exclaimed : ' I might have known that I could not hit him.' " 



INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. 267 

treat of Banks, one of the Stonewall Brigade, who was in 
the van, wearied with tramping over the bad roads, said 
to a comrade : 

" I'm tired of pnlling my legs out of the mud ; I wish all 
the Yankees were at the bottom of the sea." 

" Ko, no," said his friend ; " if that were the case, ' Old 
Stonewall ' would be within stone's throw, and the first bri- 
gade would be in the lead." 

Captain Cooper Nisbet, whose company of the Twenty- 
first Georgia Regiment had been with Jackson in his bat- 
tles, thus wrote to a friend : 

" Marching, fighting, and skirmishing, have been our daily 
business smce the middle of May. Without tents, and often 
with short rations, we cheerfully move wherever our glo- 
rious leader orders. General Jackson, like old Frederick 
the Great, fights to win, and Avill win or die. At the same 
time, he is very considerate of the lives and comfort of his 
men. He shares our fate, and never says, * Go in, boys, and 
fight ;' but ' Come, boys, let us whip the Yankees.' And 
when he says the word, we are ready, for we all feel that 
what he does is right. His men all love the old Gajnecock 
of the Valley, and if the humblest soldier gives him a salu- 
tation, his hat is lifted in return. Now that he has whipped 
out Banks, Shields, and Fremont, he will soon be in Mary- 
land, and thundering at the gates of Washington City, if 
our authorities will only send him men." 

Sectional hate formed no part of our hero's character, 
which fact is illustrated in the subjoined anecdote : 



268 KTONEWALL JACKSON. 

"When the question of Secession, Union, or 'Armed 
N'eutrality ' went before the people of Virginia, Stonewall 
Jackson voted the Union ticket ; but when the State went 
out he went with her. From first to last he had no pa- 
tience (if such a phrase can be true of such a man) with 
the intemperate expressions of bitter sectional hate that con- 
tinually afiVonted his ear ; and he was blunt in his admoni- 
tion to the women of Winchester — when he again left the 
checkered fortunes of that town to our advancing troops — 
' not to forget themselves.' * My child,' he would say to 
some immoderate rebel in crinoline, ' you and I have no 
right to our hates ; personal rancor is the lowest expression 
of patriotism, and a sin beside. We must leave these things 
to God.' " 

Jackson's native shyness clung to him through life. Pub- 
lic demonstrations in the form of cheers were exceedingly 
embarrassing to him. It is said that, after the two days' 
bombardment of Harper's Ferry, when at last the garrison 
capitulated, the Federal soldiers, in due appreciation of the 
gallantry of their captors, surrendered with hearty cheers ; 
and that Jackson was so confused and astonished at the im- 
expected compliment, that wholly incapable of making an 
appropriate " speech," he could think of no other acknow- 
ledgment than to order double rations to his prisoners. 

An " English combatant " in the Confederate service nar- 
rates an incident, which occurred upon one of the nights of 
the eventful week which terminated the siege of Kichmond. 
He says . 



INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. 269 

"More asleep than awake, duties called me m various 
directions, and the universal bustle indicated that a general 
engagement was anticipated. Infantry were busy cleaning 
arms, field officers stood aloof in groups, conversing ; gene- 
rals and staif moved to and fro, while couriers were every- 
Vv'here inquiring for Jackson, Longstreet, Hill, Magruder, 
and all the generals in the army. ISTone could tell where 
these officers Avere. A few moments before, such an one 
was seen passing up the road, another down, but where they 
were at any particular time the best informed could not 
pretend to tell. In and out of the woods they were moving 
incessantly. ' Where is old Jackson, I wonder ? ' petulantly 
inquired a dusty courier, with his horse in a foam ; ' I wish 
to heaven these generals would have some fixed spot Avhere 
they might be found ; but the devil of it is, old Jackson is 
always moving about. I think he even walks in his sleep, 
or never sleeps at all, for here have I been hunting him for 
the past hour.' Every body in the group laughed, except 
one seedy, oldish-looking officer, intently listening to the 
picket-firing in front, whom nobody thought to be more 
than some old major or other. *Here is Jackson, young 
man,' said the officer, turning quietly, without a muscle 
moving. 'Return to your post, sir,' said he ;' this paper 
requires no answer.' And he put it in his pocket, and trot- 
ted off as unconcerned as if nothing had happened. ' Who 
would have thought that was he?' we all exclaimed. 
* Oh ! 'tis just like him,' said one ; ' I have known him to 
dismount and help artillery out of the mud for half an hour 



270 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

at the time, and ride off again without being discovered. 
He is always poking about in out-of-the-way places : not un- 
frequently he rides unattended to distant outposts at night, 
and converses with the pickets about the movements of the 
enemy, and without more ceremony than you just now saw 
exhibited. It is his continual industry and sleeplessness 
that have routed Banks, Shields, and others in the Valley. 
He is continually moving himself, and expects all under him 
to be animated by the same solicitude and watchfulness.' " 

From the commencement of the Rebellion, Jackson had 
looked forward to an invasion of the enemy's territory, as 
the only certain means of bringing the war to an end. 
Long before the invasion of Maryland he wrote to a friend, 
who was the recipient of his most private feelings : " I am 
cordially with you in favor of carrying the war north of the 
Potomac." After the defeat of Pope, Jackson, according 
to custom, inquired with great interest what roads led to 
one district, and ordered maps of it to be prepared for his 
use, and then put his troops into motion in a contrary direc- 
tion. This latter led liim on his road to Maryland. An in- 
cident which occurred on the passage of the Potomac is 
worth relating. A correspondent says : 

" When our army reached tl^e middle of the river, w^hich 
they were wading, the troops were halted. General Jack- 
son pulled off his hat, and the splendid bands of music 
struck up the inspiring air of ' Maryland, my Maryland,' 
which was responded to and sung with ' the spirit and with 
the understanding' by all who could sing, and the name of 
all who could then and there sing was legion." 



INCIDEIJTTS AND ANECDOTES. 271 

Whilst in Maryland Jackson occasioned much curiosity. 
Upon one occasion, when the ladies crowded around him, 
he is represented as saying : 

*' Ladies, this is the first time I was ever surrounded," 
in spite of which, says a letter-writer, " they cut every 
button off his coat, commenced on his pants, and at one 
time threatened to leave him in the uniform of a Georgia 
colonel — shirt-collar and spurs." Another incident was re- 
lated of him by Colonel Ford, a Federal officer, who con- 
versed with the General at Harper's Ferry ; 

" While we were in conversation," says the Colonel, 
" an orderly rode rapidly across the bridge, and said to 
General Jackson : ' I am ordered by General McLaws to re- 
port to you that General McClellan is within six miles with 
an immense army.' Jackson took no notice of the orderly 
apparently, and continued his conversation ; but when the 
orderly had turned away, Jackson called after him, with 
the question : ' Has McClellan any baggage-train or drove 
of cattle?' The reply was that he had. Jackson re- 
marked, that he could whip any army that was followed hy 
a drove of cattle, alluding to the hungry condition of his 
men." 

" Jackson was the observed of all observers during our 
stay in Maryland," writes the author of BattU-Fields of the 
South, " and hundreds travelled many score miles to see 
the great original ' Stonewall,' against which the Federal 
generals had so often broken their heads. Crowds were 
continually hanging round his headquarters, and peeping 



272 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

through the wmdows, as if anxious to catch him at his * iii« 
cantations,' for many believed he was in league with the 
Old Boy, and had constant intercourse with him. Others, 
again, actually thought that he was continually praying, 
and imaghied that angelic spirits were his companions and 
counsellors ; and it was not until the great man had 
mounted, his old horse, and frequently aired himself in tlie 
streets, that many began to think him less than superna- 
tural. His shabby attire and unpretending deportment 
quite disappointed the many who expected to see a great 
display of gold lace and feathers ; and when he ordered his 
guards to clear his quarters of idle crowds, many went 
away muttering : ' Oh ! he's no great shakes after all !' " 

This redoubtable chieftain was no less a subject of in- 
terest to his enemies than to his friends. In every Federal 
account is apparent the intense anxiety his presence and 
movements created. During the battles before Richmond, 
a Federal captain, who had been taken prisoner, was re- 
clining under a tree, when General Lee and staff rode by. 
The captain, struck with the dignified and soldierly appear- 
ance of the General, languidly inquired who he was, and 
expressed unfeigned admiration at his fine figure on horse- 
back. Soon after General Jackson rode by, and the weary 
prisoner again proffered his inquiries. " That's glorious old 
Stonewall !" exclaimed the guard, cheering lustily as his 
eye followed the liero. Up sprang the recumbent prisoner, 
and, gazing curiously until the General was out of sight, 
lay down again, with an expression of disappointment, mut- 
tering : ^' Well, he ain't much for looks, anyhow 



f" 



INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. 273 

The awkward figure of Jackson upon horseback has been 
the subject of frequent merriment. He usually rode in a 
loose, shambling altitude, and was very indifferent about 
his dress and appearance. On one occasion he approached 
a squad of soldiers at dusk, his horse floundering along 
through the mire, and himself reeling in the saddle, like a 
drunken man ; so that one of the soldiers, not recognizing 
liim, shouted, as he passed : " I say, old fellow, you look as 
if you knew where to help yourself to liquor ; I wish you 
would hand me some." Judge of the man's embarrassment 
when his comrades hastily silenced him by the information 
that the awkward cavalier was no other than their idol- 
ized hero, Stonewall Jackson. 

" General Jackson was never known to put his horse out 
of a trot," wrote a Southern soldier, " except when desirous 
of escaping the cheering of his men, on which occasions he 
would raise his cap, discovering a high, bald forehead, and 
force his old ' sorrel ' into a gallop. This old ' sorrel ' war- 
horse is well known throughout the army ; with head down, 
It seldom attempts more than a trot, but stands fire well, 
and that may be the reason why the General prefers 
and always rides him. Many gentlemen, imagining that 
the hero would appear to better advantage on a blood 
animal, have presented several to him, but they are seldom 
used. When our army entered Maryland, in September, 
1862, in order to get in the rear of General Miles at Har- 
per's Ferry, and secure the fourteen thousand men under 
his command, Jackson's corps was stationed east of Fred 
12* 



274 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

erick, and an influential citizen, in token of admiration, 
gave the commander a very valuable horse, that he might 
appear to advantage. Jackson mounted in the public 
street, and was immediately thrown into the mud ! The 
old ' sorrel ' was again brought forth, and the General am- 
bled off, very good humoredly, never assaying to mount 
' fine ' horses again." 

The old ' sorrel,' however, unfortunately came to an un- 
timely end. A correspondent of the i^ew-York Tribune^ 
in describing Jackson's equestrianism, says : 

" On horseback he by no means looked the hero of a tab- 
leau. On his earlier fields and marches he had been blessed 
with a ' charger ' that happily resembled its rider — ' a plain 
horse, that went straight ahead, and minded his own busi- 
ness ;' but one day it got shot under him, and then his 
friends presented him with a more ornamental beast, a 
mare that took on airs, and threw him ; so he exchanged 
her, in disgust, for a less visionary and artistic quadruped 
— still a horse, but never such a congenial spirit as that 
original ' Ole Virginny ' of his, that never tired, and 
whose everlasting long-legged, swinging walk was the 
very thing to make forced marches with. 'He's in the 
saddle now,' sang those limber Rebels, from the song of 
their corps : 

* He's in the saddle now ! Fall in ! 
Steady the whole brigade I 
Hill's at the Ford, cut off! we'll win 
His way out, ball and blade. 



INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. 275 

What matter if our shoes are worn ? 
What matter if our feet are torn ? 
Quick-step ! We're with him before morn ! 
That's Stonewall Jackson's way.' " 

'Diat Jackson was not at all times indifferent to personal 
appearance we gather from one correspondent, who was 
" agreeably surprised " to behold him " sweeping along one 
day on a large, handsome bay horse, showily attired in full 
general's uniform, with a jaunty cap upon his head, and a 
full black beard ; presenting altogether quite a dazzling 
sight to W5, accustomed to our usually slovenly head- 
quarters." 

During the time that the opposing armies were lying 
close to each other on the Rappahannock, previous to the 
battle of Fredericksburgh, amusing conversations fre- 
quently occurred between the outposts on the river-banks. 

" How are you, rebels ?" asked a Federal soldier, one 
cold morning, blowing his fingers. 

" Oh ! not very good, to-day," was the reply. " We have 
suffered an awful loss ! Jackson has resigned !" 

" ' Jackson resigned !" was the astonished exclamation 
in rejoinder. " Why, how was that ?" asked the Federals, 
who greatly feared the very name of old Stonewall. 

" Oh ! he resigned because they removed his commissary- 
general, and he wouldn't stand it." 

" His commissary-general, eh ? Then who was he ?** 
they inquired in much surprise. 

" Banks !" was the significant reply. 



276 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

It was said : " General Jackson's headquarters are often 
under a tree, and his couch is a fence corner ; his equipage 
is little more than a frying-pan and a blanket. He sees per- 
sonally to the execution of his own orders. The effect of 
this industry is evident in the efficiency of his men. The ac- 
tivity of a perpetual * forward ' seems to pervade his army ; 
they never get out of ammunition — they never lose baggage 
or stores ; whether drawn from the government, or cap- 
tured from the enemy, no matter, they are always ready to 
move at the right time." 

But the quarters which Jackson occupied shortly after 
the battle of Fredericksburgh were an exception to the 
above rule. We have ah-eady stated that he was engaged 
at this time in the preparation of his reports. The four 
winter months which elapsed before the battle of Chancel- 
lorsville were, however, not entirely passed in laborious oc- 
cupations connected with his official position. " Many pleas- 
ant incidents," says a Virginian, " are related of him at 
this period, which we could dwell upon at length did time 
and space permit. Those w^ho visited Moss Neck during 
those days, gave a humorous description of the surround- 
ings of the famous General Stonewall. Before his tent was 
pitched, he established his headquarters in a small out- 
building of the Corbin House ; and all who came to trans- 
act business wath Lieutenant-General Jackson, were sti'uck 
by a series of headquarter onmraents of the most unique 
and surprising description. On the walls of the apartment 
were pictures of race-horses, well known and dear in former 



INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. 277 

days to the planters of the neighboring region. Then there 
was a portrait of some celebrated game-cock, ready-trimmed 
and gaifed for conflict to the death. A companion-piece of 
these, was the picture of a terrier engaged in furious on- 
slaught upon an army of rats, which he was seizing, tear- 
ing, and shaking to death as fast as they came. These de- 
corations of headquarters excited the merriment of the Gen- 
eral's associates ; and one of them suggested to him that a 
drawing of tlie apartment should be made, with the race- 
horses, game-cocks, and terrier in bold relief, the picture to 
be labelled, * View of the winter-quarters of General Stone- 
Avall Jackson, presenting an insight into the tastes and 
character of the individual.' 

" Hearty laughter on the part of General Jackson greeted 
this jest from the distinguished brother soldier who had 
stood beside him upon so many bloody fields — whom he 
loved and opened his whole heart to — and to whom, when 
struck down by the fatal ball at Chancellorsvile, his mind 
first turned as his successor. 

"The children of the house, and in the neighborhood, will 
long remember the kind voice and smile of the great sol- 
dier — his caresses and afiectionate ways. A new military 
cap had been sent him just before the battle of Fredericks- 
burgh, which was resplendent with gold braid and all man- 
ner of decorations. General Jackson did not admire this 
fine substitute for that old, sun-scorched head-coveriuG: 
which had so long served him ; and when, one day, a little 
girl was standing at his knee, looking up from her cluster- 



278 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

ing curls at the kindly General, whose hand was caressing 
her hair, he found a better use for the fine gold braid 
around the cap. He called for a pair of scissors, ripped it 
off, and joining the ends, placed it like a coronet upon her 
head, with smiles and evident admiration of the pretty pic- 
ture thus presented. 

" Another little girl, in one of the hospitable houses of 
that region, told the present writer that when she ex- 
pressed to a gentleman her wish to kiss General Jackson, 
and the gentleman repeated her words, the General blushed 
very much, and turned away with a slight laugh, as if he 
were confused. 

" These are trifles, let us agree, good reader ; but is it not 
a pleasant spectacle to see the great soldier amid these 
kindly simple scenes — to watch the stern and indomitable 
leader, whose soul has never shrunk in the hour of deadliest 
peril, passing happy moments in the society of laughing 
children ? 

" At the first battle of Manassas, while Jackson's wound 
was being dressed, some one said : ' Here comes the Presi- 
dent.' He threw aside the surgeons, rose suddenly to his 
feet, and whirling his old cap around his head, cried, with 
the fire of battle in his eyes : 

" ' Hurrah for the President ! Give me ten thousand 
men, and I'll be in Washington to-night !' 

"It was the same man who blushed when a child ex- 
Dressed her wisli to kiss him." 

An Englishman who had brouglit a box from Nassau to 



INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES. 279 

General Jackson, received an invitation to visit him in his 
camp. He did so in March, 1863, and on his way thither 
experienced a drenching rain. He gives the following par- 
ticulars of his visit : 

" Wet to the skin, I stumbled through mud, I waded 
through creeks, I passed through pine-woods, and at last I 
got into camp about two o'clock. I then made my way to 
a small house occupied by the General as his headquarters. 
I wrote down my name and gave it to the orderly, and I 
was immediately told to walk in. The General rose and 
greeted me warmly. I expected to see an old untidy man, 
and was most agreeably surprised and pleased with his ap- 
pearance. He is tall, handsome, and powerfully built, but 
thin. He has brown hair and a brown beard. His mouth 
expresses great determination. The lips are thin and com- 
pressed firmly together ; his eyes are blue and dark, with a 
keen and searching expression. I was told that his age was 
thirty-eight, and he looks about forty. The General, who 
is indescribably simple and unaffected in all his ways, took 
off my wet overcoat with his own hands, made the fire, 
brought wood for me to put my feet on to keep them warm 
while my boots were drying, and then began to ask me ques- 
tions on various subjects. At the dinner-hour we went out 
and joined the members of his staff. At this meal the Gen- 
eral said grace in a fervent, quiet manner, which struck me 
much. After dinner I returned to his room, and he again 
talked to me for a long time. The servant came in and 
took his mattress out of a cupboard and laid it on the floor. 



280 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

As I rose to retire, the General said: 'Captain, there is 
plenty of room on my bed ; I hope you will share it with 
me.' I thanked him very much for his courtesy, but said, 
* Good night,' and slept in a tent, sharing the blankets of 
one of his aids-de-camp. In the morning, at breakfiist-time, 
I noticed that the General said grace before the meal with 
the same fervor I had remarked before. An hour or two 
afterward it was time for me to return to the station ; on 
this occasion, however, I had a horse, and I turned up to 
the General's quarters to bid him adieu. His room was 
vacant, so I stepped in and stood before the fire. I then 
noticed my great-coat stretched before it on a chair. Shortly 
afterward the General entered the room. He said : ' Cap- 
tain, I have been trying to dry your great-coat, but I am 
afraid I have not succeeded very well.' That little act il- 
lustrates the man's character. With the cares and respon- 
sibilities of a vast army on his shoulders, he finds time to 
do little acts of kindness and thoughtfulness which make 
him the darling of his men, who never seem to tire talking 
of him. Jackson is a man of great endurance ; he drinks 
nothing stronger than Avater, and never uses tobacco or 
any stimulant. He has been known to ride for three days 
and three nights at a time, and if there is any labor to be 
undergone, he never fiiils to take his share of it." 



CHAPTER XVn. 

THE FOOT-CAVALE Y. 

Why called the " Foot Cavalry "—The old " Stonewall " Brigade— Doubts 
about the Name — A Parting Scene — The Greatest Marcher in the World — 
No Excuses permitted — Obedience to Orders — A Colored Thermometer — 
Jackson's Army not to be found by the Federals — A Cause of Reverse — 
The Army in Repose — Sports and Pastimes of Camp-life — " Old Jack " 
extremely popular — A Talk with the General — Disaffection of Officers — 
Discipline — Characteristics of the old " Stonewall " Brigade. 

" Where is Jackson ?" 

How often, how very often was this question asked but 
a short time ago by both Federal and Confederate. The 
movements of his army were so rapid that friend and foe 
alike knew not where to find him. His brave soldiers 
could only be sure of the present. In vain were their cal- 
culations for the future. Just now they are quietly repos- 
ing in their camps — an hour hence they may be upon the 
march — a day hence thirty miles, ay, fifty miles may have 
been trodden. A confidential messenger was once in- 
trusted with a despatch addressed " General T. J. Jackson, 
somewhere," which was ofttimes the only address that 
could be given of the rapidly-moving and reticent com- 
mander. To find out where that " somewhere " was, has 
many times puzzled aching heads at Washington. 



282 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

It is not, therefore, to be wondered that Jackson's forces, 
from the rapidity of their movements, obtained the peculiar 
appellation of '■'■Foot- Cavalry.'*^ This was the title given to 
the entire of Jackson's army. There was one portion of it, 
however, which was more particularly identified with its 
commander — that was the '•'■ St07ieioaU Brigade." It was 
with this brigade that Jackson fought on the upper Poto- 
mac in the early days of the rebellion. It was with this 
brigade that Jackson gained his imperishable name of 
" Stonewall " at the battle of Bull Run, on the plains of 
Manassas. Jackson, however, on several occasions, and 
especially on his death-bed, insisted that the term belonged 
to his soldiers, and not to himself. Among his latest ex- 
pressions he said : " Men who live through this war will be 
proud to say to their children : ' I was one of the Stonewall 
Brigade.' " It does seem somewhat curious that it has never 
been satisfactorily decided whether the name of " Stone- 
wall " was obtained by the leader from the brigade, or was 
acquired by the soldiers from their leader. It has been 
mooted that the brigade, composed chiefly of natives of the 
Shenandoah Valley, where abundance of rocks have brought 
stone walls into general use, was called by themselves the 
" Stonewall Brigade " from the commencement of the war. 
Jackson's death-bed declaration would seem to refer to this 
fact.* 

* There is a village called Stonewall at the junction of a creek, bearing 
the same name, with the James River, a few miles below Lynchburgh, ia 
Virginia. It has mills known as the Stonewall Mills. 



THE FOOT-CAVALRY. 283 

Stonewall Jackson and the Stonewall Brigade were, how- 
ever, for a time doomed to be separated from each other. 
This was upon the occasion of Jackson's being assigned, 
shortly after the battle of Bull Run, to the command of the 
troops in and around Winchester, then threatened by a 
large Federal army under General Banks. 

" To his great sorrow," writes a Confederate officer, " the 
old First Brigade, which he had so long commanded, was 
to stay behind with the main army ; and there took place, 
at the camp of the brigade, near Centreville, on the fourth 
of October, one of those scenes which irresistibly excite the 
deepest emotions of the heart, and light up the page of 
history which records them. 

" On that day Jackson took leave of his old ' First Bri- 
gade.' The officers and men were drawn up as though in 
line of battle, and their commander appeared in front, as 
he had so often appeared before, when about to give the 
order for a charge upon the enemy. But now, no enthu- 
siasm, no cheers awaited him. All knew for what purpose 
he came, and the sorrow which filled every heart, betrayed 
itself in the deep silence which greeted his approach. Not 
a sound along the line — not a hand raised in greeting — not 
a murmur even going to show that they recognized their 
beloved captain. The bronzed faces were full of the deep- 
est dejection, and the stern fighters of the old brigade were 
like children about to be separated from their father. 

" Jackson approached, and mastering his emotion by an 
effort, said, in the short abrupt tones with which all were 
so familiar : 



284 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

" ' I am not here to make a speech, but simply to say fare- 
well. I first met you at Harper's Ferry in the commence- 
ment of this war, and I cannot take leave of you without 
giving expression to my admiration of your conduct from that 
day to this — whether on the march, the bivouac, the tented 
field, or on the bloody plains of Manassas, where you gained 
the well-deserved reputation of having decided the fate of the 
battle. Throughout the broad extent of country over which 
you have marched, by your respect for the rights and the 
property of citizens, you have shown that you were soldiers, 
not only to defend, but able and willing both to defend and 
protect. You have already gained a brilliant and deserved- 
ly high reputation throughout the army of the whole Con- 
federacy, and I trust in the future, by your deeds on the 
field, and by the assistance of the same kind Providence 
who has heretofore favored our cause, you will gain more 
victories, and add additional lustre to the reputation you 
now enjoy. You have already gained a proud position in 
the future history of this our second war of independence. 
I shall look with great anxiety to your future movements, 
and I trust, whenever I shall hear of the First Brigade on 
the field of battle, it will be of still nobler deeds achieved, 
and higher reputation won ! ' 

" Having uttered these words, Jackson paused for an in- 
stant, and his eye passed slowly along the line, as though 
he wished thus to bid farewell individually to every old 
familiar face, so often seen in the heat of battle, and so dear 
to him. The thoughts which crowded upon him seemed 



THE FOOT-CAVALRY. 285 

more than he could bear — he could not leave them with 
such formal words only — and that iron lip, which had never 
trembled in the hour of deadliest peril, now quivered. 
Mastered by an uncontrollable impulse, the great soldier 
rose in his stirrups, threw the reins on the neck of his horse 
with an emphasis which sent a thrill through every heart, 
and extending his arm, added, in tones of the deepest feel- 
ing : 

" ' In the array of the Shenandoah you were the First 
Brigade ! In the army of the Potomac you were the First 
Brigade ! In the second corps of the army you are the 
First Brigade ! You are the First Brigade in the affec- 
tions of your General ; and I hope by your future deeds 
and bearing you will be handed down to posterity as the 
First Brigade in this our second war of independence. 
Farewell ! ' 

"As the last Avords echoed in their ears, and Jackson 
turned to leave them, the long pent-up feeling burst forth. 
Three prolonged and deafening cheers rolled along the 
line of the old brigade ; and no sooner had they died away, 
than they Avere renewed, and again renewed. The calm 
face of the great leader flushed as he listened to that sound, 
but he did not speak. Waving his hand in token of fare- 
well, he galloped away, and the old brigade, deprived of its 
beloved chief, returned slowly and sorrowfully to camp." 

The separation was, however, fortunately but for a short 
time, as the " old brigade " soon after hastened to join 
their old General upon the banks of the Shenandoah. 



286 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

The arduous duties which Jackson required his officers to 
perform did not always render him a favorite with them. 
They found that " active service" with him did not allow 
them much time for repose ; in fact, they considered him 
the " greatest marcher in the world." One of these offi- 
cers, writing at the commencement of the Valley campaign, 
says : 

" When we moved up here, our first orders were for a 
march to Charlestown ; next day we moved back to Win- 
chester, in a few days again back to Charlestown, and thence 
from one place to another, until at last I began to imagine 
we were commanded by some peripatetic philosophical 
madman, whose forte was pedestrianism. With little or no 
baggage, we are a roving, hungry, hardy lot of fellows, 
and are not patronized at all by parsons or doctors ; the 
latter have a perfect sinecure amongst us. 

" ' Stonewall' may be a very fine old gentleman, and an 
honest, good-tempered, industrious man, but I should ad- 
mire him much more in a state of rest than continually see- 
ing him moving in the front. . . . And don't he keep his 
aides moving about ! Thirty miles' ride at night through 
the mud is nothing of a job ; and if they don't come up to 
time, I'd as soon face the devil, for Jackson takes no ex- 
cuses when duty is on hand. . . . From what he says 
there is no appeal, for he seems to know every hole and 
corner of this Valley as if he made it, or, at least, as if it 
had been designed for his own use. He knows all the dis- 
tances, all the roads, even to cow-paths through the woods, 



THE FOOT-CAVALRY. 287 

and goat-tracks along the hills. He sits his horse very 
awkwardly, although, generally speaking, all Virginians 
are fine horsemen, and has a fashion of holding his head 
very high, and chin np, as if searching for something sky- 
wards ; yet although you can never see his eyes for the 
cap-peak drawn down over them, nothing escapes his ob- 
servation; 

" His movements are sudden and unaccountable ; his staff 
don't pretend to keep up with him, and, consequently, he is 
frequently seen alone, poking about in all sorts of holes and 
corners, at all times of night and day. I have frequently 
seen him approach in the dead of night and enter into con- 
versation with sentinels, and ride off through the darkness 
without saying, ' God bless you,' or any thing civil to the 
officers. The consequence is, that the officers are scared, 
and the men love him." 

Jackson faithfully obeyed all orders given to him. " IsTo 
man in the army," writes the officer from whom we have 
just quoted, " is half so obedient as ' old Stonewall,' or so 
determined to be obeyed ; the result is, that no army has 
shown greater endurance, marched farther, fought more fre- 
quently, suffered less, or done half the work that has fiillen 
to our lot. Our men seem to know intuitively the designs 
of their commanders, and they second them without a 
murmur." 

The proceedings of the negro servant, to whom allusion 
Is made in a previous chapter, were continually being 
watched, so that some knowledge might be gained of in- 
tended movements. 



288 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

" When last I put pen to paper," remarks the same officer, 
" I did not seriously imagine that old ' Stonewall' intended 
moving in such fearful weather ; but when it was known 
the General's servant had packed up, I knew we were all 
bound for a tramp somewhere. ' Whenever I misses massa 
a little while in de day, I allers knows he's prayin' a spell ; 
whenever he's out all night, I knows we's goin' to move 
next day ; but when he stays out and comes back to have a 
long spell of prayin', I knows dare's goin' to be a fought 
somewhar, mighty quick, and dis chile packs up de walibles 
and gets out ob de way like a sensible colored pusson ! * 
This colored thermometer was * packin' up de walibles ' — 
pots and pans ; so there was nothing to be done but * grin 
and bear it.' Sure enough we had a long trip : our leader 
marched us nearly blind ; but as he was always in front 
himself, cheering on the men, all bore it patiently." 

" Where is Jackson ? " 

This question was never more difficult to answer than 
just previous to the seven days' conflict. General McClel- 
lan having been informed by a deserter that the ubiquitous 
commander was approaching Richmond with the intention 
of attacking the Federal rear, he telegraphed to the Secre- 
tary of War at Washington for information as to Jackson's 
position and movements, so that he might compare such 
information with that which he had received. The reply 
of the Secretary of War is so illustrative of Jackson's suc- 
cess in deceiving his foe, that we append it in full : 

** We have no definite information as to the numbers or 



THE FOOT-CAVALRY. 289 

position of Jackson's force. General King yesterday re- 
ported a deserter's statement that Jackson's force was, nine 
days ago, forty thousand men. Some reports place ten 
thousand rebels under Jackson at Gordonsville ; others that 
his force is at Port Republic, Harrisonburgh, and Luray. 
Fremont yesterday reported rumors that Western Virginia 
was threatened, and General Kelly that Ewell was advanc- 
ing to New-Creek, where Fremont has his depots. The last 
telegram from Fremont contradicts this rumor. The last 
telegram from Banks says the enemy's pickets are strong in 
advance at Luray. The people decline to give any infor- 
mation of his whereabouts. Within the last two days, the 
evidence is strong that, for some purpose, the enemy is cir- 
culating rumors of Jackson's advance in various directions, 
with a view to conceal the real point of attack. Neither 
McDowell, who is at Manassas, nor Banks and Fremont, 
who are at Middletown, appear to have any accurate know- 
ledge of the subject. A letter transmitted to the depart- 
ment yesterday, purporting to be dated Gordonsville, on 
the fourteenth instant, stated that the actual attack was 
designed for Washington and Baltimore, as soon as you 
attacked Richmond ; but that the report was to be circulat- 
ed that Jackson had gone to Richmond, in order to mislead. 
This letter looked very much like a blind, and induces me 
to suspect that Jackson's real movement now is toward 
Richmond. It came from Alexandria, and is certainly de- 
signed, like the numerous rumors put afloat, to mislead. I 
think, therefore, that while the warning of the deserter to 
13 



290 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

you may also be a blind, that it could not safely be disre- 
garded. I will transmit to you any further information on 
this subject that may be received here." 

There can be little doubt but that the rapid march of 
Jackson and his "Foot-Cavalry" from the Shenandoah to 
the Chickahominy was mainly instrumental in changing the 
fortunes of war in front of the Confederate capital. After 
the battles which immediately succeeded this march had 
terminated, a Northern journalist wrote : 

*' It is very easy, now that the affair is over, to perceive 
the cause of McClellan's recent reverse. At the last mo- 
ment, when least expected, and equally to the surprise, we 
have no doubt, of President Lincoln, Secretary Stanton, 
and General McClellan himself, Stonewall Jackson rushed 
from the Valley of the Shenandoah, attacked our right 
wing, forced it back, and got in rear of our whole army, 
without weakening the rebel force massed in front of ic by 
a single man. No general on earth could make head against 
such a coiq^ de guerre. If McClellan had stood his ground 
and fought in such a position, nothing in the world could 
have prevented the utter annihilation of the army of the 
Potomac." 

It has more particularly been the object of this work to 
depict the doings of Jackson's army, whilst employed in 
the more active operations of warfare. Let us now give a 
picture of it in repose. In the beautiful month of October 
which succeeded the battle of Antietam, Jackson's corps 
rested in the picturesque valley of the Shenandoah, to re- 



THE FOOT-CAVALHY. 291 

cover its strength and spirits amid the scenes which its 
leader had ah*eady made so famous. There, on the banks of 
the Opequon, which mm*murs under its tall trees, as it 
lapses gently toward the Potomac, did the weary soldiers 
of the Stonewall CorjDS find rest and refreshment ; and the 
bracing air made them boys again, filling every pulse with 
health and joy. The jest, the practical joke, the ready 
laugh passed around ; and for a time the whole army of 
Northern Virginia was in extravagant spirits, cheering 
upon the least provocation like a party of boys, and permit- 
ting no occasion for indulging in laughter to escape them. A 
letter written by one of the corps, about this time, conveys 
a very accurate idea of the manner in Avhich Jackson's men 
amused themselv^es ; and its careless style and homely de- 
tails may serve to interest the stay-at-home reader, who is 
not familiar with the " goings on " of an army. We there- 
fore transfer it to our pages : 

" ' Cock-a-doodle-doo-oo ! ' sounded the ' shrill clarion ' of 
a neighboring hen-roost before day this morning ; a Avakeful 
soldier caught up the strain, and he and a hundred others 
forthwith repeated bogus cock-a-doodle-doos, until they had 
eifectually ^ murdered sleep ' throughout the'entire regiment. 
To pass the time till breakfast (!) that is, till some 'solid- 
shot biscuit ' and leather steaks of lean kind be cooked — I 
will 'retaliate' on you and your readers. 

" The campaign having apparently ended, there are no 
moving accidents by flood or field of interest, and, there- 
fore, nothing left to record but the routine of daily camp 



292 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

life; this shall be true to history, however, to let the old 
folks at home know how we live ' sure enough ' while here. 
At this particular season though it is particularly dull — 

' No mail, no post, 
No news from any foreign coast ; 
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease, 

No comfortable feel in any member, 
No shade, no sunshine, no butterflies, no bees, 
November ! ' 

" Our camp not being regulated by military rule for want 
of material in tents, etc., is left to illustrate the variegated 
architectural and domestic tastes of the thousand diiFerent 
individuals concerned. Hence, although a wall tent or Sib- 
ley graces an occasional locality, the most of the men en- 
sconce themselves in bush-built shelters of various shapes, 
in fence-corners, under gum-blankets eked out by cedar- 
boughs, or burrow semi-subterraneously, like Esquimaux. 
If, as is said, the several styles of architecture took their 
origin from natural circumstances and climate, etc., as the 
curving Oriental roofs, from the long reeds originally in use 
— the slanting Egyptian, from the necessity of baking their 
unburnt bricks in the hot sun — the Corinthian, from its own 
flowery clime, etc., etc. — an architectural genius might find 
enough original designs in this camp to supply a century to 
come. 

"The only 'useful occupation' of this brigade for some 
time past has been to destroy all the railroads in reach; ap- 
parently, too, for no better reason than the fellow had foi 



THE FOOT-CAVALRY. 293 

killing the splendid Anaconda in the museum, because it 
was his ' rule to kill snakes wherever found.' A soldier just 
said-: ' Old Jack intends us to tear up all the railroads in 
the State, and with no tools but our pocket-knives.' They 
have so far destroyed the Baltimore and Ohio from Hedges- 
ville to near Harper's Ferry, the Winchester and Potomac 
almost entirely, and now the Manassas Gap from Piedmont 
to Strasburgh. 

"It is when idle in camp that the soldier is a great insti- 
tution, yet one that must be seen to be appreciated. Pen 
cannot fully paint the air of cheerful content, care-hilarity, 
irresponsible loungings, and practical spirit of jesting that 
'obtains,' ready to seize on any odd circumstance in its 
licensed levity. A * cavalryman ' comes rejoicing in im- 
mense top-boots, for which in fond pride he had invested 
full forty dollars of pay ; at once the cry from a hundred 
voices follows him along the line : ' Come up out o' them 
boots ! — come out ! — too soon to go into winter quarters ! 
I know you're in thar ! — see your arms stickin' out ! ' A 
bumpkin rides by in an uncommonly big hat, and is frighten- 
ed at the shout ; ' Come d.own out o' that hat ! Come down ! 
'Tan't no use to say you an't up there ; I see your legs 
hanging out ! ' A fancy staff officer was horrified at the 
irreverent reception of his nicely-twisted moustache — as he 
heard from behind innumerable trees : ' Take them mice out 
o' yer mouth ! — take 'em out ! — no use to say they an't thar 
— see their tails hanging out ! ' Another, sporting immense 
whiskers, was urged to ' Come out of that bunch of har ! 



294 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

I know your in thar ! I see your ears a working ! ' Some- 
times a rousing cheer is heard in the distance, it is explain- 
ed : ' Boys, look out ! — here comes old Stonewall, or an old 
hare, one or t'other ' — they being about the only individuals 
who invariably bring down the house. 

"And yet there are no better specimens of the earnest, 
true soldier, than the men of this brigade. It is known in 
the army, if not in print, as the ' fighting brigade.' It is 
now constituted of the Thiiteenth, Twenty-fifth, Thirty-first, 
Forty-fourth, Forty-seventh, Fifty-second, and Fifty-eighth 
Virginia regiments — the Twelfth Georgia, one of the most 
gallant regiments in the service, having, to the regret of all 
their old comrades of ' the mountain brigade,' been transfer- 
red. The brigade has been represented, by some of its regi- 
ments, in nearly every battle-field in Virginia — in North-west 
Virginia, in the Valley, on the Peninsula, around Richmond, 
from Cedar Hills to Manassas plains, at Harper's Ferry, and 
when reduced to scarce five hundred men, and surrounded 
by overwhelming numbers, it fought a bloody way clear out 
through the Yankee lines at Sharpsburgh. Four of its bri- 
gadiers have been wounded in the service. Generals Ed. 
Johnson, Elzey, Stuart, and Early. Five of the regiments 
above named were united in one command under General 
Ed. Johnson, whose conspicuous bravery at Greenbrier, Al- 
leghany, and McDowell, has never lost its example upon his 
men. The Thirteenth and Forty-ninth Virginia have been 
since united with it. It is at present commanded by Colo- 
nel J. A. Walker, of the Thirteenth, a gallant officer and 



THE FOOT-CAVALRY. 295 

courteous gentleman, who has well deserved a brigadier's 
commission. 

" But the whole day of camp-life is not yet described ; the 
night remains, and latterly it is no unusual scene, as the 
gloaming gathers, to see a group quietly collect beneath the 
dusky shadows of the forest trees — ' God's first temples '- — 
whence soon arise the notes of some familiar hymn, awaking 
memories of childhood and of home. The youthful chap- 
lain in earnest tones tells his holy mission ; another hymn is 
heard, and by the waning light of the pine torches, the 
weird-like figures of the grouped soldiers are seen reverent- 
ly moving to the night's repose. The deep bass-drum beats 
taps — the sounds die out in all the camps, save at times the 
sweet strains from the band of the Fifth Stonewall regiment 
in a neighboring grove, till they, too, fade away into the 
stilly night, and soon 

' The soldiers He peacefully dreaming, 
Their tents in the rays of the clear autumn moon, 

Or the light of the watchfires are gleaming ; 
A tremulous sigh as the gentle night wind 

Through the forest leaves slowly is creeping. 
While the stars up above with their glittering eyes 

Keep guard, for the army is sleeping.' " 

During these days. General Jackson had his headquarters 
near Bunker's Hill, and was often seen moving to and fro 
among his troops, on his old sorrel horse, and with his old 
uniform. He was always greeted with cheers by his men, 
and " Old Jack " — a name by which he had now become 



296 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

universally known — was immensely popular. Kothing de- 
lighted the soldiers so much as being distinguished by 
the General's notice. 

" I say," cried one of the " boys " to his comrade, " I've 
seen the General this morning." 

" Well, what of that ? So did I, when he rode out from 
headquarters." 

" Ah ! but he spoke to me — stopped and talked to me as 
he passed our camp." 

" Oh! yes; you think you'll get me to believe that mighty 
quick." 

"I'll swear he did; stopped and had quite a talk with 
me." 

" Now, then, what did the General have to say to you^ 
I'd like to know ? " said the half-doubtful and half-jealous 
comrade." 

" Why, he asked me what I was doing in that orchard 
over yonder." 

" A-ha ! now you're caught ; and what did Old Stonewall 
say then ? " 

" Said he expected his men to have respect to their neigh- 
bor's property, and told me to march right out." 

The reserved and uncommunicative habits of Jackson 
were not at first very popular among his officers, and some 
disaffection was known to jirevail in consequence. Disci- 
pline had been carried so far, that a prominent officer is said 
to have been put under arrest on one occasion, and to have 
had his sword taken from him, because he had permitted 



THE FOOT-CAVALRY. 297 

liis men to halt for refreshment, when Jackson had ordered 
them on a march ; which indignity could not for a long 
time be forgiven. His own example overcame this evil ; if 
he called on his men for self-denial, he was the first to prac- 
tise it. If he was taciturn regarding his plans, he was 
ready in sympathy, prompt in execution, and his success 
soon won for him vmlimited confidence. It was said that 
the activity of his army insured less sickness among his 
men than any other army of the South. " Wrapped in his 
blanket, he throws himself down on the leaves to catch a 
few minutes' repose. He cares nothing for good quarters 
and dainty fare, and if hungry, will stop and ask permission 
to share the homely meal his men are cooking, and he is as 
calm in the midst of a hurricane of bullets, as when in the 
pew of his church at Lexington. On one occasion, in the 
midst of an engagement, while writing an order, a shell 
struck and shattered the tree beneath which he sat, without 
arresting the movement of his pencil, or seeming to attract 
his attention.' 

During the pursuit of General Banks down the Valley, 
the Stonewall Brigade passed through their native counties 
without either asking or receiving the privilege of halting 
to shake hands with their dear ones at home, though most 
of them had been absent for about a year from the time of 
their first enlistment. The strictness of their discipline was 
a thorough barrier to all such indulgence. 

The old Stonewall Brigade, the toils which the hardy 
fellows who composed it had to undergo, the trials which 
13* 



298 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

they had to overcome, and the glories which they achieved, 
are characteristically depicted in the following remarks 
from the pen of a writer in a Southern journal: 

" The laws of the human body seemed to have been re- 
versed for these men. They marched, and fought, and tri- 
umphed, like war-machines, which felt no need of rest, or 
food, or sleep. In one day they marched from Harper's 
Ferry to Strasburgh, nearly fifty miles. On the advance to 
Komney they walked — many without shoes — over roads so 
slippery with ice that men were falling and their guns going 
off all along the column — and at night lay down, without 
blankets, on the snow, with no camp-fires and no food. 

*' At the first great battle of Manassas they were nearly 
starved, but fought with desperation. At the last battles 
tliere I saw them by the road-side, where they had halted, 
and one of my friends, a brave young ofiicer of the com- 
mand, thanked me for a biscuit. 

" The very rapidity of their marches separates them from 
all soldier-comforts — often from their very blankets, how- 
ever cold the weather ; and any other troops but these and 
their Southern comrades Avould long since have mutinied 
and demanded bread and rest. But the shadow of disaflec- 
tion never flitted over forehead in that command. AVhat- 
ever discontent may be felt at times at the want of atten- 
tion on the part of subordinate ofiicers to their necessities, 
the ' long roll ' has only to be beaten — they have only to 
see the man in the old faded uniform appear, and hunger, 
cold, fatigue, are forgotten. The Old Brigade is ready — 



THE rOOT-CAVALEY. 299 

* Here ! ' is the answer to the roll-call, all along the line — 
and though the eye is dull from want of food and rest, the 
arm is strong and the bayonet is sharp and bright. Before 
tliose bayonets no foe shall stand — to pass them is to 
advance over the bodies of dead heroes, grasping still the 
trusty musket, even in death. 

" The campaigns of the Valley ; the great flank move- 
ment of the Chickahominy ; the masterly advance upon 
Manassas in the rear of Pope — these are the fadeless glories 
of the Old Brigade. Their path has been strewed all over 
Avith battles. Incredible have been their marches ; count- 
less their combats — almost always against overpoAvering 
numbers. The scythe of death has mowed down whole 
ranks of them ; but the Old Brigade still marches on and 
fights and conquers. The war-worn veterans still confront 
the foe, though the thinned ranks tell the tale of their 
glories and their losses. Many brave souls have poured out 
their blood and fallen ; but they are conquerors and more 
than conquerors, in the world's great eye. The comrades 
of these heroes hold their memory sacred, and have offered 
bloody sacrifices to their manes. ' Steady ! Close up ! ' 
were the last words echoed in the dying ears — and the aim 
of the survivors was only more steady, the charge with the 
bayonet more deadly. 

" Those survivors may be pardoned if they tell their child- 
ren, when the war is ended, that they fought under Jackson, 
in the * Old Stonewall Brigade.' They may be pardoned 
even if they boast of their exploits — their wonderful 



300 STONEWALL JACKSON. 

marclies — their constant and desperate combats — the skiii 
and nerve which snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, 
and, even when they were retiring before overwhelming 
numbers, made it truly better that the foe had 'ne'er been 
born,' than meet their bayonet charge. 

" In speaking of this veteran legion, ' praise is virtue.' 
Their history is blazoned all over with glory. They are 
* happy names, beloved children ' — the favorites of fame, if 
not of fortune. In their dingy uniforms, lying stretched 
beneath the pines, or by the road-side, they are the mark of 
many eyes which see them not — the absorbing thought in 
the breast of beauty, and the idols of the popular heart. In 
line before the enemy, with their bristling bayonets, they 
are the terror of the foe, and the life-guard of their dear old 
mother, Virginia." 



1 




^°-^.^. -.'' 



